WIST Quotations

Ustinov, Peter -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
(Attributed)

Ustinov, Peter -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
(Attributed)

While I could not find a specific source for this ubiquitous attribution, it does show up in two collections of Ustinov quotations during his lifetime: The Wit of Peter Ustinov, ed. Dick Edwards (1969), and The Quotable Ustinov, no editor given (1995).

Ustinov, Peter -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 13:03:20 +0000

Politicians only get to the top because they have no qualifications to detain them at the bottom.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
(Attributed)

Ustinov apparently used the phrase several times, with slight variations.

As quoted above, in International Celebrity Register (1959) [ed. Cleveland Amory]
Also appears in Ustinov's article, "Politics and the Arts", The Atlantic, Vol. 218 (1966)
"People who reach the top of the tree are only those who haven't got the qualifications to detain them at the bottom." -- Interview with David Frost (1969)
"I believe those who rise to the top of the political tree just didn’t have the qualifications to detain them at the bottom." (Source)

Ustinov, Peter -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:00:17 +0000

Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
(Attributed)

Ustinov, Peter -- Achtung! Vorurteile (2003)

Dave — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:01:33 +0000

Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich.

[Terrorismus ist der Krieg der Armen und der Krieg ist der Terrorismus der Reichen.]

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Achtung! Vorurteile (2003)

The original German reads: "Der Terrorismus, der im furchtbaren 11. September kulminierte, ist ein Krieg der Armen gegen die Reichen. Der Krieg ist ein Terrorismus der Reichen gegen die Armen." [The terrorism culminating in the the dreadful events of 11 September is a war of the poor against the rich. War is terrorism of the rich against the poor.]

Ustinov, Peter -- Christian Science Monitor (1958-12-09)

Dave — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 18:54:41 +0000

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Christian Science Monitor (1958-12-09)

I cannot access any archived version of the CSM for that date, to find the context for the quote. The quote was being attributed to Ustinov by at least 1964.

Ustinov, Peter -- Dear Me (1977)

Dave — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 13:02:25 +0000

Once we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our mind, our one duty is to furnish it well.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Dear Me (1977)

Ustinov, Peter -- In The Independent (25 Feb 1989)

Dave — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:50:21 +0000

There is no question but that if Jesus Christ, or a great prophet from another religion, were to come back today, he would find it virtually impossible to convince anyone of his credentials despite the fact that the vast evangelical machine on American television is predicated on His imminent return among us sinners.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
In The Independent (25 Feb 1989)

Ustinov, Peter -- Interview (1995-06-22) by Warren Allen Smith, Free Inquiry Magazine

Dave — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:22:25 +0000

And I have always said that I have much more faith in an agnostic or an atheist who helps an old lady across the road than the man who is racing to church and pretends not to see her.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Interview (1995-06-22) by Warren Allen Smith, Free Inquiry Magazine
(Source)

Ustinov, Peter -- Interview (1995-06-22) by Warren Allen Smith, Free Inquiry Magazine

Dave — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 04:45:23 +0000

I think that it’s an honorable thing to change your mind occasionally. I don’t think it’s a sign of weakness or lack of integrity. I believe men are united by their doubts and separated by their convictions. Therefore, it’s a very good thing to have doubts. Doubts are the greatest spur to activity that I know of.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Interview (1995-06-22) by Warren Allen Smith, Free Inquiry Magazine
(Source)

Ustinov, Peter -- Interview by Wendy Leigh, Speaking Frankly (1978)

Dave — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 21:39:59 +0000

Sex is a conversation carried out by other means. If you get on well out of bed, half the problems of bed are solved.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Interview by Wendy Leigh, Speaking Frankly (1978)

See Von Clausewitz.

Ustinov, Peter -- Interview for Criterion Edition release of Spartacus

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I am rather unfriendly toward the Marxists, as I am towards those who persecute them, simply because they regard the unit by which one judges human behavior as the mass, and I really believe the individual is much more important than the mass. In fact, the mass is really composed of individuals that have momentarily lost their voice, which is a sad state of affairs.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Interview for Criterion Edition release of Spartacus

Ustinov, Peter -- Interview, in Wendy Leigh, Speaking Frankly: What Makes a Woman Good in Bed (1978)

Dave — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 20:29:34 +0000

Sex is a conversation carried out by other means.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Interview, in Wendy Leigh, Speaking Frankly: What Makes a Woman Good in Bed (1978)

Ustinov, Peter -- Newspaper column, The European

Dave — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:08:52 +0000

If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Newspaper column, The European

Rarely cited. Referenced here, and reprinted in Ustinov Still At Large (1995).