Is life so wretched? Isn’t it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddled? You are the one who must grow up.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDIs life so wretched? Isn’t it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddled? You are the one who must grow up.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDConstant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDTo forgive oneself? No, that doesn’t work: we have to be forgiven. But we can only believe this is possible if we ourselves can forgive.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDFreedom from fear’ could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDThe only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDIf only I may grow: firmer, simpler, quieter, warmer.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDIt is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDThe Assembly has witnessed over the last weeks how historical truth is established; once an allegation has been repeated a few times.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDNever for the sake of peace and quiet deny your convictions.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDForgiveness is the answer to the child’s dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDThose who invoke history will certainly be heard by history. And they will have to accept its verdict.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDThe myths have always condemned those who ‘looked back.’ Condemned them, whatever the paradise may have been which they were leaving. Hence this shadow over each departure from your decision.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDNever measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDThere is a point at which everything becomes simple and there is no longer any question of choice, because all you have staked will be lost if you look back. Life’s point of no return.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDPray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLDYour body must become familiar with its death – in all its possible forms and degrees – as a self-evident, imminent, and emotionally neutral step on the way towards the goal you have found worthy of your life.
DAG HAMMARSKJOLD