Quotes from Knut Hamsun

Vi er som brever som er sendt ut: vi befiner os ikke længer under befordringen, vi er kommet frem. Så er det da om vi har hvirvlet glæder og sorger op ved vårt indhold eller vi intet indtryk har efterlat.

Tak for livet, det var morsomt å leve!

Smørbrød og øl, tarvelig men godt. Hør, jeg synes det skal være litt utsøkt!

Light dresses, blue eyes, the tinkling of glasses, the sea, the white sails. We sang snatches of song. And our cheeks became rosy.

Ah, how hard it is to manage the fateful transition to old age gracefully and calmly! Instead, convulsions, writhings, grimaces, strife with the younger generation, envy.

dilsiz ve bitkindi benim kahkaham aÄŸlamak özlemi ta??yordu

Det måtte gjøres med makt å holde hende tilbake, å sætte hende ned, kysse hende. Det var forresten ikke vanskelig, hun var liten og rund og ikke så værst urimelig, tilslut hjalp hun til.

Men hvad bruker hun al den sherryen til? De har visst svært ofte skjelpadesuppe der i huset. Ja men en flaske om dag!

I was seized with bitterness, and wept as I went along the street. . . . I cursed the cruel powers, whoever they might be, that persecuted me so, consigned them to hell's damnation and eternal torments for their petty persecution. There was but little chivalry in fate, really little enough chivalry; one was forced to admit that.

I remembered her father, the old man from another world, the man with mittens, who had to be spoon-fed on porridge because he was ninety, who smelled like an unburied corpse.

Den store dikter avstedkommer en sammenknepen mund i sit ansigt, strammer sit fuglebryst ut til det ytterste og frembringer følgende ord: Å dikte er å holde dommedag over sig selv.

God is forgotten, the mighty dollar has taken his place and the mechanic cannot ease the troubled soul. The road is closed. Under circumstances such as these America only increases speed. America will not stop for anything, it wants to get on, go on, forge a way ahead. Should America turn back? Absolutely not! It simply increases the pace a hundredfold, acts the hurricane and whips life up to a white heat. In Europe nowadays we have the word Americanism, the old days had festina lente.

From the day in May when my ill-luck began I could so clearly notice my gradually increasing debility; I had become, as it were, too languid to control or lead myself whither I would go. A swarm of tiny noxious animals had bored a way into my inner man and hollowed me out.

Man reiser litt omkring, man flakker fra sted til sted og man har den skjebne å støte på mennesker igjen som man engang før har sett, møte dem plutselig, på uventede steder, så man av overraskelse ganske glemmer å ta hatten av og hilse.Dette treffer meg ofte, ja meget ofte. Det er det intet å gjøre ved (Dronningen av Saba)

I do not know from where the impression came, but it appeared to me that I had never in my life seen a more vile back than this one, and I did not regret that I had abused the creature before he left me.

The elderly remember bygone days and dates, they have a wonderful way of hoarding in their heads all manner of trifles as if they were valuable, as if they might one day stand them in good stead.

Jeg elsker tre ting, sier jeg så. Jeg elsker en kjærlighetsdrøm jeg hadde engang, jeg elsker dig og jeg elsker denne plet jord. - Og hvad elsker du mest? - Drømmen.

Hr. Oftedal holder en stilling som mangen minister kunne misunne ham. På ti år har han drevet det til å bli en av Norges nevneverdigheter, – og det i ti bevegede år, hvori større skikkelser enn hans er falt uten å huskes mer, og større evner og krefter enn hans har kjempet uten å vinne.

Vendt mot syd, var til høyre en langbratt mektig ås. Bakom denne blå fjell. Til venstre en naken skrent; mange vannfosser nedover. Skogen var i løvspretten; den sendte god lukt med vinden til alle sider, og minte en om liv i en løvsal.

En hytte – den stod, som i tanker – var muret til fjeldsidens væg; den stod der, hvor rovdyret vanker tog stød af en ældgammel hæg. Naar stormen tog fart op til riften, var stenhyttens ejer ej glad; da tog han die hellihge schriften – og knælte saa ned og tilbad

Ne iÅŸti bu! Bir beygir gibi, ha babam, kendimi zorlam??, gece gündüz, gözlerim önüme ak?ncaya kadar okumuÅŸ, çal??m??, beynimdeki zekay? açl?klara ak?tm??t?m!

The day might come when I would just take into my head to pass her haughtily by without glancing once towards her. Ay, it might happen that I would venture to do this, even if she were to gaze straight into my eyes, and have a blood-red gown on into the bargain.

You are welcome to your intellectual pastimes and books and art and newspapers; welcome, too, to your bars and your whisky that only makes me ill. Here i am in the forest, quite content

But Fia was very young and pitifully thin, by no means underfed, but undeveloped, short on muscle, short on work. What was she to do with herself, this talented girl? Her parents could afford to keep her at home or to keep her abroad, whichever she preferred, and whether she was here or there she was nice, she was charming, and she never went upstairs two steps at a time, no, never.