Selma Lagerlöf
I thought of my father and felt a deep sorrow that he should no longer be alive, and that I could not go to him and tell him that I had been awarded the Nobel Prize. I knew that no one would have been happier than he to hear this.
Anyone who has ever sat in a train as it rushes through a dark night will know that sometimes there are long minutes when the coaches slide smoothly along without so much as a shudder.
I had become shy of life's bustle in my solitary retreat and was apprehensive at the thought of facing the world.
What would have become of me if no one had wanted to read my books? And don't forget all those who have written of me.
There is always a third possibility, as long as you have the ability to find it.Collection: Long
For, so long as there are interesting books to read, it seems to me that neither I nor anyone else, for that matter, need be unhappy.Collection: Book
No one is able to enjoy such feast than the one who throws a party in his own mind.Collection: Party
Nothing on earth can make up for the loss of one who has loved you.Collection: Death
Never repeat a rumor before you have verified it. And if it is true, hold your tongue all the more.Collection: Rumor
Strange, when you ask anyone's advice you see yourself what is right.Collection: Advice
Women can do nothing that has permanence.Collection: Dishes
What is so certain of victory as patience?Collection: Patience
More die in flight than in battle.Collection: War
He who is sorrowful can force himself to smile, but he who is glad cannot weep.Collection: Personality
There isn't much that tastes better than praise from those who are wise and capable.Collection: Wise
... I see the green earth covered with the works of man or with the ruins of men’s work. The pyramids weigh down the earth, the tower of Babel has pierced the sky, the lovely temples and the gray castles have fallen into ruins. But of all those things which hands have built, what hasn’t fallen nor ever will fall? Dear friends, throw away the trowel and mortarboard! Throw your masons’ aprons over your heads and lie down to build dreams! What are temples of stone and clay to the soul? Learn to build eternal mansions of dreams and visions!Collection: Dream
It is a strange thing to come home. While yet on the journey, you cannot at all realize how strange it will be.Collection: Spiritual
A man may be outlawed for the sake of a fish net he has never seen.Collection: Men
If dead things love, if earth and water distinguish friends from enemies, I should like to possess their love. I should like the green earth not to feel my step as a heavy burden. I should like her to forgive that she for my sake is wounded by plough and harrow, and willingly to open for my dead body.Collection: Water
There is so much one would rather not believe until one has seen for oneself whether it is true.Collection: Believe
The ways of Providence cannot be reasoned out by the finite mind ... I cannot fathom them, yet seeking to know them is the most satisfying thing in all the world.Collection: God
It is often the case with the silent children about us, that they cherish a dream which they dare not talk about.Collection: Dream
Have you ever seen a child sitting on its mother’s knee listening to fairy stories? As long as the child is told of cruel giants and of the terrible suffering of beautiful princesses, it holds its head up and its eyes open; but if the mother begins to speak of happiness and sunshine, the little one closes its eyes and falls asleep with its head against her breast. . . . I am a child like that, too. Others may like stories of flowers and sunshine; but I choose the dark nights and sad destinies.Collection: Beautiful
For what is man's soul but a flame? It flickers in and around the body of a man as does the flame around the rough log.Collection: Men
There is so little that one can do for the dead!Collection: Littles
Here, no mercy is shown. One hates one's fellow man to the glory of God.Collection: Hate
Young horses who cannot bear the whip or spur find life hard. At every smart they start forward and rush to their destruction, and when the way is stony and difficult, they know no better expedient than to overturn the cart and gallop madly away.Collection: Life
It is not a good omen to meet a lot of cats when one sets out on a journey, so the Lieutenant spat three times for each cat, as his mother had taught him to do.Collection: Mother