"I didn't expect you to have learnt to smile yet. When one is born, one only knows how to cry. It's only very gradually that one learns to smile."

Halldór Laxness Literature See all quotes by Halldór Laxness →

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“o anyone who weeps, life has some importance.”

“It's a useful habit to never believe more than half of what people tell you, and not to concern yourself with the rest. Rather keep your mind free and your path your own.”

“My image will soon be obliterated; it was only an illusion. But even though I may fall, even though my image may be obliterated, there is one thing that will never fall and can never be obliterated, and that is the yearning of those in chains for liberty.”

“You should deny facts if they're inconvenient.”

“He who weeps does not die; weeping is a sign of life; weep, and your life is worth something again.”

“They thought I was an Icelander! But I'm no Icelander, s'help me!”

Resonant Thoughts

"What I know is that those who risked their lives to earn the pleasure of God are real men. They managed to rid the Islamic nation of disgrace. We hold them in the highest esteem."

— Osama bin Laden

Religion1957–2011

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"It is knowledge that influences and equalises the social condition of man; that gives to all, however different their political position, passions which are in common, and enjoyments which are univers…"

— Benjamin Disraeli

Politics1804–1881

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"In 1821, Major Stephen H. Long made an expedition to the area now known as Weld County and declared the land was not fit for human prosperity. Almost two centuries later it is without question that M…"

— Jared Polis

Business1975

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"The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate …"

— Joseph Stiglitz

Politics1943

#knowledge