The Fish Can Sing Quotes

“A wise man once said that next to losing its mother, there is nothing more healthy for a child than to lose its father.”
― Halldor Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“If he believed it all, he was just like those theologians who store their theology somewhere in a locked compartment of the brain, or rather, perhaps, like those travellers who carry a bottle of iodine in their luggage and take care to keep it tightly corked in case it leaks and ruins their belongings.”
― Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“Can't you hear how everyone tells lies; if not deliberately, then involuntarily; if not out loud, then silently?”
― Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“I have written about everything at Brekkukot, both indoors and out, which can be given a name; but I have scarcely said a word yet about my grandmother, who was certainly not some useless ornament about the place. On the other hand, if she were likened to the heart of the house, one could say exactly the same about her as one does about healthy hearts in general, that whoever is lucky enough to have such a heart is quite unaware of having a heart at all.”
― Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“When the boat had gone a few oar-strokes away from land they were still standing on the beach, gazing after the boy whom an unknown woman had left naked in their arms. They were holding hands, and other people gave way before them, and I could see no one except them. Or were they perhaps so extraordinary that other people melted away and vanished into thin air around them?
When I had clambered up with my bag onto the deck of the mail-boat North Star, I saw them walking back together on their way home: on the way to our turnstile-gate; home to Brekkukot, our house which was to be razed to the ground tomorrow. They were walking hand in hand, like children.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“من الأفضل ألا أساعدك على إيذاء الآخرين, يا صديقي؛ بل أساعدك على ما تعتقد أن تلك هي الفردوس بالنسبة إليك. يعيش الفأر في الجحر. من الصعب جدا العيش في الجحر, على الأقل ستعتقد الطيور أن تلك ليست الفردوس. ومن ناحية أخرى, يشعر النسر بالراحة على قمم الجبال ويعد نفسه الملك في قصر الرياح, آها, أي هراء مطلق هذا يا صديقي! وطيور مستنقعاتنا الصغيرة والمسكينة, تأتي طائرة إلى آيسلندا كل ربيع وتعود في كل خريف معتمدة على أجنحتها الصغيرة لتعبر المحيط الرهيب. وعليك ألا تظن أنها تقوم بذلك مصادفة أو بعشوائية. كلا, لديها فلسفتها, وبالرغم من ذلك يمكن للمرء أن يعود إلى المراجع ليبرهن أنها حماقة. أنا لا أعود للمراجع أبدا. الكثير من الناس يعتقدون أنه لمن الصحيح رمي الطيور لأنها بلهاء. أنا لا أفعل ذلك. أنا أرى أن على المرء مساعدة المخلوقات كلها كي تعيش كما تريد.فحتى لو جائني فأر وقال إنه سيطير عبر المحيط, وجاء نسر وقال أنه يفكر في أن يحفر لنفسه حفيرة في الأرض, لقلت له"تفضل". على المرء على الأقل أن يسمح لكل مخلوق في أن يعيش كما يريد هو نفسه ما دام لا يمنع الكائنات الأخرى من أن تعيش كما تريد”
― Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“Vitur maður hefur sagt að næst því að missa móður sína sé fátt hollara úngum börnum en missa föður sinn.”
― Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“Eins var algengt hjá okkur ef spurt var um líðan einhvers manns: iss hann er feitur; en það þýddi að honum liði vel, eða einsog sagt mundi vera í Danmörku, að hann væri hamingjusamur. Ef einhverjum leið illa, þá var sagt sem svo: æ það hálfsér á honum; og væri sá nær dauða en lífi sem um var rætt, þá var sagt: æ það er í er í honum einhver lurða. Ef einhver var um það bil að verða ellidauður, þá var sagt: æjá hann er hættur að bleyta smjörið. Um þann sem lá banaleguna var sagt: já hann er nú að berja nestið auminginn. Um dauðvona ungling var sagt að það liti ekki út fyrir að hann ætti að kemba hærurnar.”
― Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“If she were likened to the heart of the house, one could say exactly the same about her as one does about healthy hearts in general, that whoever is lucky enough to have such a heart is quite unaware of having a heart at all.”
― Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“I think our own standard had its origins in my grandfather's conviction that the money which people consider theirs by right was unlawfully accumulated, or counterfeit, if it exceeded the average income of a working man.”
― Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“Mér er sagt að aldrei hafi nokkur maður séð hana gánga til svefns að kvöldi, en ef einhverstaðar var laust bæli hafi hún kanski fleygt sér rétt blánóttina, annars látið nægja að halla sér uppað téðum hlóðarsteini. Víst er um það að hafi hún sofið, þá sofnaði hún ekki fyren aðrir voru geingnir til náða. Og aldrei fór nokkur maður svo snemma á fætur í kotinu, að hún væri ekki komin á stjá á undan og búin að hafa til kaffi eða jafnvel elda graut. Og það man ég líka alveg fyrir víst að aldrei dó í hlóðunum hjá henni, þá tíð sem ég var sonur þeirra afa míns og ömmu þar í Brekkukoti.”
― Halldór Laxness, Brekkukotsannáll

“Líklega hefur það samt verið hún sem ól mig upp, að því leyti sem ég hef verið alinn upp; að minstakosti hugsa ég að hún hafi átt meiri þátt en ýmsir aðrir í að gera mig sisona einsog ég er; en það var ekki fyren eftir að ég varð roskinn að ég tók eftir henni svo mér fanst ég sjá hana. Mér fanst blátt áfram einn góðan veðurdag að hún stæði mér kanski næst af öllum mönnum þó ég vissi færra um hana en aðra menn og hún hefði nú legið í gröf sinni um hríð. Það er annað en gaman að ætla að fara að tala um manneskju sem maður veit svona lítið um, en er manni þó svo nákomin.”
― Halldór Laxness, Brekkukotsannáll

“Í öðrum löndum mundi sá maður heita fiskimaður eða fiskari, sem rær út á skektu í bítið á mornana og er kominn með fiskinn að dyrum manna um fótaferð. Sjálfur var afi minn líka dálítið einsog fiskarar á útlendum málverkum,”
― Halldór Laxness, Brekkukotsannáll

“Hvis man ser rigtig bedrøvet ud på gaden i den store verden, så kommer tykke mænd straks løbende og vifter med checkhæfte og engagerer én til cirkus. Sådan nogle lærer de at køre på en cykel, der går i stykker, når man forsøger at stige op, eller de lader dig spille med kosteskaft på stemmeløs fiol.”
― Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing

“Better not to help you harm others, my friend; Rather, I help you with what you think this is paradise for you. Mouse lives in a burrow. It is very difficult to live in a burrow, at least the birds will think this is not paradise. On the other hand, the eagle feels comfortable on the mountain tops and prepares itself as the king in the palace of the winds, aha, what absolute nonsense this, my friend! And our poor little swamp birds, flying to Iceland every spring and returning every autumn relying on their little wings to cross the terrible ocean. You should not think that it is doing this by accident or randomly. No, it has its philosophy, and yet one can go back to the references to prove that it is stupid. I never go back to references. Lots of people think it's right to throw birds because they're idiots. I do not do that. I think that one should help all creatures to live as they want. Even if a mouse came to me and said that it would fly across the ocean, and an eagle came and said that he was thinking of digging a hole for himself in the ground, I would have told him "please". One must at least allow every creature to live as he himself wants as long as he does not prevent other beings from living as they want.”
― Halldor Laxness, The Fish Can Sing