The Oppermanns (McNally Editions)

by Lion Feuchtwanger

although he could talk interestingly and well, he was inclined to be reticent about the things that meant most to him.

He always believed everything was all right as long as one could prove one’s statements. If she tried to explain to him that nowadays accuracy meant nothing

Due to an inferiority complex, he had encased himself in an armor of the cheapest nationalism, through which not a ray of common sense could penetrate.

it is wiser to live for an idea than to die for it.