Little Drummer Quotes

“It’s at this level we find one of the biggest differences between the northern and southern hemispheres in human terms. For us, there’s nothing at stake anymore; we barely notice that life is a challenge. The only time we meet the brutality of existence is when we see hurricanes, floods, fires and drought on TV. The most daring thing we do is catch a plane to New York, Paris or London to go shopping. And we breed people who can’t bear this emptiness, people who parachute off mountains, paddle canoes down waterfalls, throw themselves off bridges tied to an elastic rope – just to get the kick that tells them they are alive. It’s not like that in the southern hemisphere. Death, or ruin, is a real entity for poor people in poor countries. There’s no safety net, no social care, no social security. If you have an accident or lose your job, you’re literally on the slippery slope, and without a parachute or elastic tied around your ankles, please note.”
― Kjell Ola Dahl, Little Drummer

“Eighty per cent, at least, of my patients have symptoms that can be reduced to a single common denominator: an emptiness, a sense of not being able to cope, a lack of something they can’t define. They suffer from what professionals in the social sector call “melancholy” or “burnout”.”
― Kjell Ola Dahl, Little Drummer