When you come to expect humor of people, you will never get it.

A book is a gift you can open again and again.

Marriage, friends, is a lifelong feast; love is no light lunch.

I usually don't work with other people; I do the whole show myself.

I am a cheerful man, even in the dark, and it's all thanks to a good Lutheran mother. . . . Mother was well composed, a true Lutheran, and taught me to Cheer up, Make yourself useful, Mind your manners, and above all, Don't feel sorry for yourself.

To Norwegians, the polka is a form of martial art.

We writers don't really think about whether what we write is good or not. It's too much to worry about. We just put the words down, trying to get them right, operating by some inner sense of pitch and proportion, and from time to time, we stick the stuff in an envelope and ship it to an editor.