“The terrible thing is that one cannot be a Communist and not let oneself in for the shameful act of recantation. One cannot be a Communist and preserve an iota of one's personal integrity.”
“How banal, yet irrefutable, is the assertion that [a person] is a mixture of the 'angelic' and the 'demonic.' ... A true politician... can be neither... 'an angel' nor 'a demon... .' [Politicians] cannot be so if [they are] to... negotiate with courage and skill on the razor's edge between victory and defeat, life and death.”
“I had to follow that road, even if my steps were confused and indecisive. Otherwise I would not remain a man in my own eyes. For if I know something with certainty and I am convinced of its truth, how can I deny it, hide it from my closest friends; from the world and from myself?”
