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Halldór Laxness Biography

Halldór Laxness

Halldór Kiljan Laxness (Icelandic: [ˈhaltour ˈcʰɪljan ˈlaxsnɛs] ( listen); born Halldór Guðjónsson; 23 April 1902 – 8 February 1998) was a twentieth-century Icelandic writer. Laxness wrote poetry, newspaper articles, plays, travelogues, short stories, and novels. Major influences included August Strindberg, Sigmund Freud, Knut Hamsun, Sinclair Lewis, Upton Sinclair, Bertolt Brecht and Ernest Hemingway. In 1955 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature; he is the only Icelandic Nobel laureate.

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Halldór Laxness Quotes

No one is so busy that he hasn't the time to dismantle a work of art.

Art, Busy, Dismantle, Time, Work

Human beings, in point of fact, are lonely by nature, and one should feel sorry for them and love them and mourn with them. It is certain that people would understand one another better and love one another more if they would admit to one another how lonely they were, how sad they were in their tormented, anxious longings and feeble hopes.

Human, Lonely, People, Sorry, Tormented, Understand

What you have stolen can never be yours.

Stolen

For man is essentially alone, and one should pity him and love him and grieve with him.

Alone, And Love, Grieve, Grieving, Men, Pity

My motto is strong packaging, clear addressing.

Addressing, Clear, Motto, Packaging, Strong

Whoever doesn't live in poetry cannot survive here on earth.

Earth, Live, Poetry, Survive

When a man has a flower in his life he builds a house.

Flower, House, Life, Man, Men

One boy's footprints are not long in being lost in the snow, in the steadily falling snow of the shortest day, the longest night; they are lost as soon as they are made. And once again the heath is clothed in drifting white. And there is no ghost, save the one ghost that lives in the heart of a motherless boy, till his footprints disappear.

Boys, Fall, Falling, Footprints, Heart

Don't forget that few people are likely to tell more than a small part of the truth: no one tells much of the truth, let alone the whole truth. Spoken words are facts in themselves, whether true or false. When people talk they reveal themselves, whether they're lying or telling the truth.

Alone, Forget, Lying, People, Spoken, True Or False

Remember, any lie you are told, even deliberately, is often a more significant fact than a truth told in all sincerity.

Lying, Facts, Remember, Truth, Sincerity, Significant

It's an old saying that one still has to know something, despite everything.

Despite, Everything, Know, Old Saying, Saying, Stills

The tyranny of mankind; it was like the obstinate drip of water falling on a stone and hollowing it little by little; and this drip continued, falling obstinately, falling without pause on the souls of the children.

Children, Fall, Hollowing, Mankind, Stone, Water

It's a useful habit to never believe more than half of what people tell you, and not to concern yourself with the rest. Rather keep your mind free and your path your own.

Believe, Habit, Mind, People, Tell

You have fettered yourself of your own free will, man-break the fetters!

Break, Fettered, Fetters, Free, Free Will, Men

My opinion has always been this. That you ought never to give up as long as you live, even though they have stolen everything from you. If nothing else, you can always call the air you breath your own, or at any rate you can claim that you have it on loan. Yes, lass, last night I ate stolen bread and left my son among men who are going to use pick-handles on the authorities, so I thought I might as well look you up this morning.

Give, Giving Up, Morning, Son, Use, Yes

Bjartur declared that he had never denied that there was much that was strange in nature. "I consider that there's nothing wrong in believing in elves even though their names aren't on the parish register," he said. "It hurts no one, yes and even does you good rather than harm; but to believe in ghosts and ghouls-that I contend is nothing but the remains of popery and hardly fit for a Christian to give even a moment's consideration. " He did his utmost to persuade the women to accept his views on these matters.

Believe, Christian, Ghosts, Hurt, Hurts, Register

Of all the creatures that man kills for his amusement there is only one that he kills out of hatred—other men. Man hates nothing as much as himself. That is why war is called the leprosy of the human soul.

Hate, Hates, Kills, Men, War