Halldór Laxness quotes

Halldór Laxness was an Icelandic novelist and Nobel Prize laureate, considered one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. His works often explored themes of Icelandic identity, rural life, and social justice. He played a pivotal role in bringing Icelandic literature to international prominence. Here are 224 of his quotes:

Remember, any lie you are told, even deliberately, is often a more significant fact than a truth told in all sincerity. (Halldór Laxness)
Whoever doesn't live in poetry cannot survive here on earth. View quote
Halldór Laxness
The difference between a novelist and a historian is this: that the former tells lies deliberately and for the fun of it; the historian tells lies in his simplicity and imagines he is telling the truth. View quote
Halldór Laxness
b>Oh, it's so good to be dead! - little Anna. View quote
Halldór Laxness
A man's conscience is an unsteady judge of right and wrong. View quote
Halldór Laxness
No one is so busy that he hasn't the time to dismantle a work of art. View quote
Halldór Laxness
Icelanders are grateful to meet foreigners who have heard of their country. And even more grateful to hear someone say it deserves better. View quote
Halldór Laxness
The most remarkable thing about man's dreams is that they all come true; this has always been the case, though no one would care to admit it. View quote
Halldór Laxness
The fire's hottest for the one who burns himself. View quote
Halldór Laxness
Where the glacier meets the sky, the land ceases to be earthly, and the earth becomes one with the heavens; no sorrows live there anymore, and therefore joy is not necessary; beauty alone reigns there, beyond all demands. View quote
Halldór Laxness
What you have stolen can never be yours. (Halldór Laxness)
My opinion has always been this, that you ought to never give up as long as you live, even though they have stolen everything from you. If nothing else, you can always call the air you breath your own, or at any rate you can claim that you have it on loan. Yes, lass, last night I ate stolen bread and left my son among men who are going to use pick-handles on the authorities, so I thought I might just as well look you up this morning. View quote
Halldór Laxness
Of all the creatures that man kills for his amusement there is only one that he kills out of hatred-other men. Man hates nothing as much as himself. That is why war is called the leprosy of the human soul. View quote
Halldór Laxness
Don't forget that few people are likely to tell more than a small part of the truth: no one tells much of the truth, let alone the whole truth. Spoken words are facts in themselves, whether true or false. When people talk they reveal themselves, whether they're lying or telling the truth. View quote
Halldór Laxness
You have fettered yourself of your own free will, man - break the fetters! View quote
Halldór Laxness
The reason a man talks is to hide his thoughts. View quote
Halldór Laxness
Misdeeds that are repented no longer exist. View quote
Halldór Laxness
[T]o anyone who weeps, life has some importance. View quote
Halldór Laxness
Gold is precious because it resembles the sun. Silver has the light of the moon. View quote
Halldór Laxness
It's an old saying that one still has to know something, despite everything. View quote
Halldór Laxness
Anyone who doesn't know others doesn't know himself. (Halldór Laxness)
It's a pity we don't whistle at one another, like birds. Words are misleading. View quote
Halldór Laxness
I don't know how to lie. But I don't know what truth is, either. I always try to speak the way I think will cause least trouble to God and men. View quote
Halldór Laxness
Suicide-masturbation multiplied by itself! View quote
Halldór Laxness
My mother once sent me out to buy pepper, and I have not returned home yet. View quote
Halldór Laxness