“Angel: You see, Mr. Simpson—a man, well, he'll walk right into Hell with both eyes open. But even the Devil can't fool a dog!”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
Figure timeline
Verner von Heidenstam
Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam was a Swedish poet, novelist and laureate of the 1916 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1912. His poems and prose work are filled with a great joy of life, sometimes imbued with a love of Swedish history and scenery, particularly its physical aspects.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
culture · Swedish poet and novelist (1859–1940) · writer · poet · painter · also Verner von Heidenstam, Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam, Heidenstam
Born 6 July 1859 · Died 20 May 1940 · Q129173
68 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
5 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Quote
2026· 18 entries
“Choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“AMBITION ~n. An overmastering desire to be vilified by enemies while living and made ridiculous by friends when dead.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Steve Jobs has a saying that A players hire A players; B players hire C players; and C players hire D players. It doesn't take long to get to Z players. This trickle-down effect causes bozo explosions in companies.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not 'This is misfortune,' but 'To bear this worthily is good fortune' .”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“A drop hollows out the stone by falling not twice, but many times; so, too, is a person made wise by reading not two, but many books.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Don't fear god, Don't worry about death; What is good is easy to get, and What is terrible is easy to endure.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“We should not plan and then try to make circumstances fit those plans. Instead we should make plans fit the circumstances.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“When you see a man in distress, recognize him as a fellow man.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“When you have a girl you want to be proud of your girl because that's my girl over there - not proud of the eyecandy she is, but proud because that's my girl. And I like her for who she is, what she represents, what she is trying to do in her life. That's a good girlǃ If you don't have that kind of pride for your girl, break upǃ I'm Seriousǃ If she doesn't have that respect and pride and really admires you. You have to admire each otherǃ”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“At every party there are two kinds of people - those who want to go home and those who don't. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“The man who acquires easily things for which he feels only a very moderate desire concludes that the attainment of desire does not bring happiness. If he is of a philosophic disposition, he concludes that human life is essentially wretched, since the man who has all he wants is still unhappy. He forgets that to be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“The degree of civilization which a people has reached, no doubt, is marked by their anxiety to do as they would be done by.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“In jealousy there is more of self-love than love.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Take gifts with a sigh: most men give to be paid.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“All is in a man's hands and he lets it all slip from cowardice, that's an axiom. It would be interesting to know what it is men are most afraid of. Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what they fear most.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“An attractive appearance may be deceptive. It may cover or hide a much less favourable content.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
2008· 1 entry
“I believe whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you... stranger.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
2007· 10 entries
“Those who arrive or apply earliest are most likely to get what they want from a limited supply of things, such as tickets, discounted goods or refreshments.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“You are more likely to win if you take the initiative and make an attack rather than preparing to defend yourself.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Somebody who has had an unpleasant experience thereafter shrinks from the cause of that experience.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“There is usually somebody who benefits from an unfavorable set of circumstances.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Any weather is tolerable as long as you have the right clothing.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“With hindsight it is easy to see what went wrong or what should have been done, but this is of no practical purpose.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“A weak part or member will affect the success or effectiveness of the whole.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Things that you must not have or do are always the most desirable.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“A different place, situation, job, or lifestyle always seems more attractive or appealing than your own.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Any action, however mean or unscrupolous, is permissible in certain situations.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
2003· 1 entry
“People who are disrespectful and demeaning of others always end up getting into trouble and hurting themselves.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
2002· 1 entry
“I messed up. So did Paulie and Sam. We wanted a better life, but in the end we were a lot worse off than most other people. You know, I think it's important to keep a balance in things. Yeah, balance, that's the right word. Because the guy who wants too much risks losing absolutely everything. Of course, the guy who wants too little from life, might not get anything at all.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1997· 2 entries
“One cannot (or should not) expect to benefit without making some effort.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Do not feel sure or rejoice noticing a favourable sign. The appearance of a single sign of a favourable event is not yet a definite indication of its coming. It may be an unrelated, sporadic appearance.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1996· 2 entries
“Gains and losses tend to balance one another overall.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Buy what thou hast no need of; and e'er long thou shalt sell thy necessaries.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1991· 2 entries
“Speech is like medicine, a small dose of which cures, but an excess of which kills.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“If a man is in health, he doesn't need to take anybody else's temperature to know where he is going.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1989· 1 entry
“I've never had a humble opinion. If you've got an opinion, why be humble about it?”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1987· 1 entry
“There are people who eat earth and eat all the people on it like in the Bible with the locusts. Then there are people who stand around and watch them eat it. Sometimes I think it ain't right to stand and watch them do it.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1986· 1 entry
“Why can't somebody give us a list of things that everybody thinks and nobody says, and another list of things that everybody says and nobody thinks?”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1981· 7 entries
“Children and fools have no inhibition, and alcohol consumed removes the inhibition against telling the truth that occasionally one would like to keep secret.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“The analogy generally holds good, that the darkest moment is just before the dawning light.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Friends, the soil is poor, we must sow seeds in plenty for us to garner even modest harvests.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“The most honorable, as well as the safest course is to rely entirely upon valour.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“I think it’s okay to believe in anything that makes you a better person, whether it’s real or not. You have to believe in something. Me, I choose to believe in nothing, with all my heart, and I am a better person for it.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“In all the trade of war, no featIs nobler than a brave retreat.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Life is what happens to you, while you're busy making other plans.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1968· 2 entries
“BEHAVIOR, n~ Conduct, as determined, not by principle, but by breeding.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“It is better that somebody arrives or something happens later than expected or desired, than not at all.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1950· 1 entry
“As to the quantity of absolute truth in a thought: it seems to me the more comprehensive and unobjectionable a thought becomes, the more clumsy and unexciting it gets. I like half-truths of a certain kind — they are interesting and they stimulate.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1947· 1 entry
“Satire is a kind of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1946· 1 entry
“When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, this is Metaphysics.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1940· 1 entry
Died 1940-05-20.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
1916· 3 entries
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature — in recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era in our literature.
- #nobel
- #award
- #honour
Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (1916).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Samfundet De Nio's Grand Prize (1916).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1915· 1 entry
Deals with philosophical themes, mainly concerning the elevation of man to a better humanity from solitude
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1912· 1 entry
Career landmark: seat 8 of the Swedish Academy (1912–1940).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
1910· 1 entry
A controversy was waged in Swedish newspapers between a number of Swedish literary men on the topic of the proletarian “degradation” of literature, the protagonists of the two opposing camps being August Strindberg and v
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1886· 1 entry
“Every man loves well what is like to himself.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1865· 3 entries
“Knowledge is proud that he has learn'd so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Self-interest speaks all sorts of tongues and plays all sorts of characters, even that of disinterestedness.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“Men will confess to treason, murder, arson, false teeth, or a wig. How many of them will own up to a lack of humour?”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1859· 1 entry
Born 1859-07-06.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth
1845· 2 entries
“It is better to make some confession, or pay a little deference to others, our neighbors, friends, acquaintances, and especially our superiors, rather than lose our credit or break friendship.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
“You may apply this truth to any province; for instance, the literary profession. Though each may be good in his trade or profession, they are not generally so inclined to agree together, from their different tastes and modes of accomplishment; whence the common saying, 'No enemies so great, as those of the same craft'”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1833· 1 entry
“No man who has once heartily and wholly laughed can be altogether irreclaimably bad.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote
1820· 1 entry
“A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.”
Text from Wikiquote, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikiquote
- #quote