Karel Čapek

“ But do not say that things in our country are on a small scale; the universe around us is, thank God, just as great as the universe around the British Empire. A small steamboat will not hold as much as one of those big ships; but, my dear sir, it can sail just as far or even else where. That depends on the crew.
My head is still all in a whirl; for a moment, I feel as if I had just come out of a huge factory and were deafened by the stillness outside; and then the next moment it is as if I could hear all the pious chimes of England ringing. ”

“ When I was in England, I kept thinking of how nice it is to be home. When I am home, perhaps I shall be thinking of how much finer and better it is to be in England than anywhere else.
I have seen greatness and power, wealth, prosperity, and an incomparably high standard of achievement. Never have I felt sad at the idea that we form only a small and imperfect corner of the world. To be small, unsettled, and uncompleted is a good and valiant mission. ”

“ We are a small nation and so each man in it will appear to me as if I knew him personally. The first one I see will be a corpulent and noisy man with a Virginia cigarette, talkative and wearing his heart on his sleeve. ”