My Friends

by Fredrik Backman

Grown men don’t have enough things they’re afraid of on this planet to become good at running.

Because in an ugly place, he was born with so much beauty inside him that it was like an act of rebellion.

our breath consists of eighty percent nitrogen, twenty percent oxygen, and one hundred percent anxiety.

Same

Imagination is the only thing that stops us from thinking about death every second.

Art is so big, so unfathomable, that it teaches us to mourn for strangers.

In life we might be enemies, but when faced with death, we see the truth: we are one species, all we have is each other, and where you go, I shall follow.

Being a parent is so strange, all our children’s pain belongs to us, but so does their joy.

The most dangerous place on earth is inside us.

There’s no limit to how dangerous someone who seems kind can be.

“You can’t trust them, have you ever seen the floor of a men’s bathroom? And those creatures are actually allowed to make political decisions?

Amen

The basic function of a parent is just to exist. You have to be there, like ballast in a boat, because otherwise your child capsizes.

The most dangerous creature on the planet is, and has always been, a young man.

Throughout our entire existence we have been on the run, first from wild animals, then from each other.

Grief is a luxury for those living an easier life.

“Right. If you want answers, we have something called science.”

Human beings are capable of such unbelievable stupidity.

“The dinosaurs died out, but you and I and all these idiots managed to survive? We do nothing but try to find ways to destroy everything that’s keeping us alive, but we’re still here?”

Art is what can’t fit inside a person. The things that bubble over,”

People say that anxiety is fear for no reason, but Ted’s brain is very helpful when it comes to providing suggestions.

“A violent man is a sickness for all around him. Violence is a plague that spreads through everybody it comes into contact with…,”

“If you go to university and become a teacher, I could imagine having kids. Because then my kids would have someone to look up to.”

Because the human body is so tough but so soft, we’re a lethal animal yet completely unprotected.

“Do you know what the biggest threat to women’s health is?” “Men,” Louisa says, because all women know that.

“It’s art that helps me cope. Because art is a fragile magic, just like love, and that’s humanity’s only defense against death. That we create and paint and dance and fall in love, that’s our rebellion against eternity. Everything beautiful is a shield.

That was why he became a teacher. Because he wanted to give that security to other children, teach them how to have adventures without moving.