“’If the ruling classes,’ [Brecht] goes on, ‘permit a small crook to become a great crook, he is not entitled to a privileged position in our view of history. That is, the fact that he becomes a great crook and that what he does has great consequences does not add to his stature.’ And generally speaking he then says in these very abrupt remarks: ‘One may say that tragedy deals with the sufferings of mankind in a less serious way than comedy.’ This of course is a shocking statement; I think that at the same time it is entirely true. What is really necessary is, if you want to keep your integrity under these circumstances, then you can do it only if you remember your old way of looking at such things and say: ‘No matter what he does and if he killed ten million people, he is still a clown.’”
—Hannah Arendt