Selma Lagerlöf Quotes

He who is sorrowful can force himself to smile, but he who is glad cannot weep.

For what is man's soul but a flame? It flickers in and around the body of a man as does the flame around the rough log.

No one is able to enjoy such feast than the one who throws a party in his own mind.

What is so certain of victory as patience?

... I see the green earth covered with the works of man or with the ruins of men’s work. The pyramids weigh down the earth, the tower of Babel has pierced the sky, the lovely temples and the gray castles have fallen into ruins. But of all those things which hands have built, what hasn’t fallen nor ever will fall? Dear friends, throw away the trowel and mortarboard! Throw your masons’ aprons over your heads and lie down to build dreams! What are temples of stone and clay to the soul? Learn to build eternal mansions of dreams and visions!

Nothing on earth can make up for the loss of one who has loved you.

Have you ever seen a child sitting on its mother’s knee listening to fairy stories? As long as the child is told of cruel giants and of the terrible suffering of beautiful princesses, it holds its head up and its eyes open; but if the mother begins to speak of happiness and sunshine, the little one closes its eyes and falls asleep with its head against her breast. . . . I am a child like that, too. Others may like stories of flowers and sunshine; but I choose the dark nights and sad destinies.

Never repeat a rumor before you have verified it. And if it is true, hold your tongue all the more.

The ways of Providence cannot be reasoned out by the finite mind ... I cannot fathom them, yet seeking to know them is the most satisfying thing in all the world.

It is often the case with the silent children about us, that they cherish a dream which they dare not talk about.

There is so much one would rather not believe until one has seen for oneself whether it is true.

There is so little that one can do for the dead!

Young horses who cannot bear the whip or spur find life hard. At every smart they start forward and rush to their destruction, and when the way is stony and difficult, they know no better expedient than to overturn the cart and gallop madly away.

Women can do nothing that has permanence.

Strange, when you ask anyone's advice you see yourself what is right.

If dead things love, if earth and water distinguish friends from enemies, I should like to possess their love. I should like the green earth not to feel my step as a heavy burden. I should like her to forgive that she for my sake is wounded by plough and harrow, and willingly to open for my dead body.

Here, no mercy is shown. One hates one's fellow man to the glory of God.

It is not a good omen to meet a lot of cats when one sets out on a journey, so the Lieutenant spat three times for each cat, as his mother had taught him to do.

More die in flight than in battle.

It is a strange thing to come home. While yet on the journey, you cannot at all realize how strange it will be.

For, so long as there are interesting books to read, it seems to me that neither I nor anyone else, for that matter, need be unhappy.

A man may be outlawed for the sake of a fish net he has never seen.

There isn't much that tastes better than praise from those who are wise and capable.

There is always a third possibility, as long as you have the ability to find it.