The Wanderer Quotes

“But there was she, and there were you. Her breath was on you, you tasted flesh. She came from some darkness—she was certainly not of this earth. Remember the eyes?”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“Gud i himlen, kjærligheten er et flygtig stof!”
― Knut Hamsun, Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings

“Wie kam ein Mensch überhaupt dazu, so auszusehen wie er? Die große Nase war viel zu unbescheiden für sein geringes Amt im Leben; außerdem ließ er sich den ganzen Winter über die Haare nicht schneiden, was seinem Kopf von Woche zu Woche mehr Künstlerisches verlieh.”
― Knut Hamsun, Vagabundentage und andere Erzählungen

“I have no murders to tell about, but I have joys and sufferings and love. And love is every bit as violent and dangerous as murder.”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“It is years since I knew such peace, perhaps twenty or thirty years; or perhaps it was in a previous life. Whenever it was, I must surely have tasted before now this peace that I feel as I walk around in ecstasies, humming to myself, caring for every stone and every straw, and sensing that they care for me once more. We are friends.”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“Soll der Direktor ruhig in seinem Jugendstil-Haus wohnen, ihm schadet das nichts - ihm nicht. Er ist ein moderner Mensch und immun; seine tiefste Sehnsucht wird dadurch befriedigt, daß er auf Knöpfe drücken und an Hähnen drehen darf.”
― Knut Hamsun, Vagabundentage und andere Erzählungen

“Besides, beyond question, it takes a certain degree of brainlessness to remain permanently contented with oneself and with everything.”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“Here and there among the pines are rowans, with ripe coral berries; now the berries are falling, heavy clusters striking the earth. So they reap themselves and sow themselves again, an inconceivable abundance to be squandered every single year. Over three hundred clusters I can count on a single tree. And here and there about are flowers still in bloom, obstinate things that will not die, though their time is really past.”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“God preserve me from growing wise! Yes, I intend to mumble toothlessly to my deathbed bystanders: God preserve me from growing wise!”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“It is a sad spectacle, a dead town trying to pretend it is alive.”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“In his younger days Grindhusen had been as stubborn and awkward as they come; now he was mild and stupid.”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“Ah, how hard it is to manage the fateful transition to old age gracefully and calmly! Instead, convulsions, writhings, grimaces, strife with the younger generation, envy.”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“A creature of fire she was, a daughter of nature. And her inmost being re-echoed still to the strains of a ravishing waltz.”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“How conceited I was, and how mistaken!”
― Knut Hamsun, The Wanderer

“Tak for livet, det var morsomt å leve!”
― Knut Hamsun, Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings

“Vi er som brever som er sendt ut: vi befiner os ikke længer under befordringen, vi er kommet frem. Så er det da om vi har hvirvlet glæder og sorger op ved vårt indhold eller vi intet indtryk har efterlat.”
― Knut Hamsun, Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings

“Det er ingen herlighet til som suset i skogen, det er som å gynge, det er som galskap; Uganda, Tananarivo, Honolulu, Atacama, Venezuela -”
― Knut Hamsun, Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings

“Men kvinden hun var som alle vise visste før: uendelig ringe i ævner, men rik i uansvarlighet, i forfængelighet, i letfærdighet. Hun har meget av barnet, men intet av dets uskyld.”
― Knut Hamsun, Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings

“Det er for øvrig ikke tvil om at det skal en viss grad av hjærnetomhet til for å kunne gå og være varig tilfreds med sig selv og alt.”
― Knut Hamsun, Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings