“That is the accursed thing about small surroundings — they make the soul small.”

I must make up my mind which is right – society or I.

To see one’s goal and to drive toward it, steeling one’s heart, is most uplifting.

What’s a man’s first duty? The answer is brief: To be himself.

Happiness is worth a daring deed; we are both free if we but will it, and then the game is won.

The devil is compromise.

A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.

In your power, all the same. Subject to your will and your demands. No longer free! No! That’s a thought I’ll never endure! Never.

Helmer: “Before all else you are a wife and a mother.” Nora: “That I no longer believe. I believe that before all else I am a human being.”

Before I write down one word, I have to have the character in my mind through and through. I must penetrate into the last wrinkle of his soul.

You have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in love with me.

Many a man can save himself if he admits he’s done wrong and takes his punishment.

Happiness is above all things the calm, glad certainty of innocence.

Castles in the air – they are so easy to take refuge in. And so easy to build too.

To live is to war with trolls.

What is the difference in being alone with another and being alone by one’s self?

If you doubt yourself, then indeed you stand on shaky ground.