Selma Lagerlöf Quotes

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Long, Possibility, Ability

  43 Copy quote

• 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.

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Book, Long, Interesting

  Selma Lagerlöf (1975). “Memories of my childhood: further years at Mårbacka”, Kraus Reprint. Co.

  50 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Party, Writing, Mind

  67 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Death, Loss, Earth

  Selma Lagerlöf (2016). “Jerusalem”, p.233, Library of Alexandria

  59 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Rumor, Tongue, Repeats

  25 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Advice, Strange, Asks

  Selma Lagerlöf (2016). “Jerusalem”, p.17, Library of Alexandria

  33 Copy quote

• Women can do nothing that has permanence.

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Dishes, Can Do, Permanence

  Selma Lagerlöf (2016). “Christ Legends and the Miracles of Antichrist”, p.359, Library of Alexandria

  27 Copy quote

• What is so certain of victory as patience?

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Patience, Victory, Certain

  Selma Lagerlöf (1914). “The Story of Gösta Berling”

  13 Copy quote

• More die in flight than in battle.

  Selma Lagerlöf

  War, Battle, Flight

  Selma Lagerlöf (1914). “The Story of Gösta Berling”

  24 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Personality, Force, Sorrowful

  Selma Lagerlöf (1914). “The Story of Gösta Berling”

  18 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Spiritual, Travel, Women

  Selma Lagerlöf (2016). “Christ Legends and the Miracles of Antichrist”, p.477, Library of Alexandria

  31 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Wise, Taste, Praise

  Selma Lagerlöf (2013). “The Wonderful Adventures of Nils”, p.78, Courier Corporation

  13 Copy quote

• ... 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!

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Dream, Lying, Fall

  35 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Men, May, Sake

  19 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Believe, Belief, Oneself

  Selma Lagerlöf (1936). “Mårbacka”

  10 Copy quote

• 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.

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Water, Forgiving, Enemy

  Selma Lagerlöf (1914). “The Story of Gösta Berling”

  24 Copy quote

• 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.

  Selma Lagerlöf

  God, Mind, World

  Selma Lagerlöf (2016). “Jerusalem”, p.62, Library of Alexandria

  20 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Dream, Children, Cherish

  Selma Lagerlöf (2012). “Gösta Berling's Saga”, p.157, Courier Corporation

  20 Copy quote

• 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.

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Beautiful, Mother, Children

  31 Copy quote

• 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.

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Men, Flames, Soul

  Selma Lagerlöf (1928). “The general's ring”

  11 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Littles, Can Do

  Selma Lagerlöf (2016). “The Emperor of Portugallia”, p.191, Library of Alexandria

  8 Copy quote

• 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.

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Life, Horse, Smart

  Selma Lagerlöf (2012). “Gösta Berling's Saga”, p.7, Courier Corporation

  15 Copy quote

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

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Hate, Men, Atheism

  17 Copy quote

• 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.

  Selma Lagerlöf

  Mother, Cat, Journey

  Selma Lagerlöf (1936). “Mårbacka”

  7 Copy quote

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