As a writer, you have to believe you're one of the best writers in the world. To sit down every day at the typewriter filled with self-doubt is not a good idea.

The myth about me as a footballer has grown: I am now the lost Maradona of Norway.

What we humans think we know is nothing compared to what we need to believe to numb the fear and pain.

Just imagine walking away from something you've started. Something you really believed would be good. I don't think I could ever do that.

Losing your life is not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing is to lose your reason for living.

It was a sudden inspiration. But inspiration never came without a reason.

When I was a teenager, my father went bust. He could have declared himself bankrupt, but he was an honourable man and he insisted on paying back all his debts. That almost ruined the family. I was aware that my mother and father couldn't control things anymore. I guess I was afraid that we would end up on the street.