Quotes from Stig Dagerman

Jag tycker inte om trohet därför att den är vacker, men därför att den är nödvändig. Den som bedrar en människa dödar henne långsamt.

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.

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.

I have no philosophy in which I can move like a fish in water or a bird on the wing. All I have is an endless struggle, every second of my life, between false consolations that only add to my feeling of powerlessness and deepen my despair, and true consolations that bring me momentary freedom. I should probably say the true consolation, because for me only one exists: the one that allows me to know myself as a free human being, within my own boundaries, untouchable.

But where is the root of suffering? He begins talking about the happiness of suffering, about the beauty of suffering. Suffering is not dirty, suffering is not pitiable. No, suffering is great because suffering makes people great...It is impossible to convince him that suffering is something unworthy.

Med näsduken pressad mot ett öga i taget gråter han av tomhet, gråter och gråter, ty tomheten har fler tårar än någonting annat.

But so uncaring is life against the man who has killed a child that everything after is too late.

Behöver man vara rädd för den man har älskat? För jag älskade henne. Jag älskade henne verkligen. Det är sant. Men jag är ju inte rädd. Jag bara saknar henne. Först gjorde jag det inte. Ty inte saknar man det som inte finns. Nu vet jag att hon finns. Hon finns ini mig. Därför att hon älskade mig, finns hon ini mig. Därför skall jag låta henne stanna.

Och ren måste den som man älskar vara. Annars kan man inte älska henne. Men att älska en människa är också att göra henne ren.

After all, there is little we can do when we're sitting at the same table and drinking tea with someone we hate. Judas himself could be sitting at our table, and we wouldn't ask him about Jesus. We would talk to him about the weather.

esse querido plano interior; o segredo da felicidade é não termos escrúpulos para connosco e termos o máximo de atenções para com todos os outros; de resto, o próprio tempo disse já adeus a todos os piratas da alma

aspirava a uma paz que só a inocência na solidão pode proporcionar, a paz de um solitário inocente, que não abandonou nem traiu ninguém para estar só, um solitário que se conserva à margem do sangue e do sofrimento, sem que lhe possam ser pedidas contas.

L'idée me vient finalement que toute consolation ne prenant pas en compte ma liberté est trompeuse, qu'elle n'est que l'image réfléchie de mon désespoir.

People demanded of those who were suffering their way through the German autumn that they should learn from their misfortune. No one thought that hunger is a very bad teacher

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.

Ja vill inte vara ditt barn. (Bengt) - Vad vill du vara då? (Gun) - Din älskare. (Bengt)

Kärlek är någonting som man inte kan rå för.

I think that the more theoretical knowledge you obtain, the more multifarious and kaleidoscopic your view becomes of the reality that lurks behind concepts. This reality is so insatiably rich that a fixed determinant of a concept's position must simply be an absurdity.

Os pensamentos que zoam no meu crânio são locatários de uma noite, meia dúzia de pares sem casa num ninho de amor passageiro, o fragor do guindaste da draga virá igualizar tudo, os momentos de deliciosa angústia do meu coração são roubados à sociedade de armadores que me emprega

People demanded of those who were suffering their way through the German autumn that they should learn from their misfortune. No one thought that hi her is a very bad teacher

Wise, because wisdom is to be in love with life, whereas foolishness is to be ashamed of love