Best 9 quotes of Stig Dagerman on MyQuotes

How is it possible on the one hand, for example, to behave as if nothing on earth were more important than literature, and on the other fail to see that wherever one looks, people are struggling against hunger and will necessarily consider that the most important thing is what they earn at the end of the month? Because this is where he (the writer) is confronted with a new paradox: while all he wanted was to write for those who are hungry, he now discovers that it is only those who have plenty to eat who have the leisure to take notice of his existence.

Journalism is the art of coming too late as early as possible. I’ll never master that.

Life expects of you duties which appear repugnant to you. You must now know that the most important thing is not duties but what permits you to be someone good and just. There are many who will say to you that this is a piece of asocial advice, but you only have to reply to them: When the forms of society are so hard and hostile to life, it is more important to be asocial than inhuman

But then comes a time when forgetting isn't possible. And I do mean a particular time when no amount of dreaming, not then and maybe not ever, can change how naked and unimportant we become in our own eyes.

Det är ett faktum som ingen kan bestrida att hon under hela denna långa tid inte en dag vikit från min sida. Om dagarna har hon ständigt varit i mina tankar. Om nätterna har hon varit i mina drömmar.

One day a year let’s all pretend that death is tucked up, fast asleep. That no lives meet a tragic end, no dreams are shattered on the cheap. The world’s at peace, there are no wars, we hug our friend, our former foe. No beggars die outside locked doors, all cells are empty on death row. Nobody’s stabbed, nobody’s shot, no car runs over someone’s friend. This can’t be true! – Well, maybe not. All I’m saying is: let’s pretend.

Te leven betekent strikt genomen niets anders dan dag voor dag zelfmoord op te schuiven.

Vari består då detta under? Helt enkelt i den plötsliga upptäckten att ingen, varken makter eller människor, har rätt att ställa sådana krav på mig att min lust till liv förtvinar. Ty om lusten icke finns – vad kan då finnas? Eftersom jag står vid havet kan jag lära av havet. Ingen har rätt att begära av havet att det skall bära alla båtar eller av vinden att den ständigt skall fylla alla segel. Lika litet har någon rätt att begära av mig, att mitt liv skall bli en fångenskap under funktioner. Inte plikten framför allt utan livet! Jag, liksom varje människa, måste ha rätt till ögonblick då jag får ta ett steg åt sidan och känna, att jag inte bara är en del i den massa, som kallas jordens befolkning, utan en självständig verkande enhet.

When she enters the room she immediately shuts the window and draws the shade with a quick, hard pull. Then she throws herself down on the bed, and the sobbing starts all over again. It's as if she can't sob when she's not in a lying position - either that or she has to start sobbing the moment she lies down.