Quotes by August Strindberg

About August Strindberg:

Johan August Strindberg is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

He liked the girls, liked to hold them around the waist, felt like a man when he did. But as for talking with them, no, no! Then he felt as though he were dealing with another species of human being, in some cases a higher one, in others a lower. He ...

August Strindberg

Those who won't accept evil never get anything good.

August Strindberg

At last everything was satisfactorily arranged, and I could not help admiring the setting: these mingled touches betrayed on a small scale the inspiration of a poet, the research of a scientist, the good taste of an artist, the gourmet’s fondness f...

August Strindberg

I always disliked dogs, those protectors of cowards who lack the courage to fight an assailant themselves.

August Strindberg

Happiness consumes itself like a flame. It cannot burn for ever, it must go out, and the presentiment of its end destroys it at its very peak.

August Strindberg

That is the thankless position of the father in the family - the provider for all, and the enemy of all.

August Strindberg

Friendship can only exist between persons with similar interests and points of view. Man and woman by the conventions of society are born with different interests and different points of view.

August Strindberg

A man with a so-called character is often a simple piece of mechanism; he has often only one point of view for the extremely complicated relationships of life.

August Strindberg

People are constantly clamoring for the joy of life. As for me, I find the joy of life in the hard and cruel battle of life - to learn something is a joy to me.

August Strindberg

I hated her now with a hatred more fatal than indifference because it was the other side of love.

August Strindberg

People who keep dogs are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves.

August Strindberg

Why is it so painful to watch a person sink? Because there is something unnatural in it, for nature demands personal progress, evolution, and every backward step means wasted energy.

August Strindberg

What an occupation! To sit and flay your fellow men and then offer their skins for sale and expect them to buy them.

August Strindberg

I dream, therefore I exist.

August Strindberg

This feeling of power, it's happiness to sit in a cottage by the Danube among six women who think I'm semi-idiot, and to know that in Paris, the headquarters of intelligence, 500 people are sitting dead-quiet in the auditorium and are foolish enough ...

August Strindberg

There are poisons that blind you, and poisons that open your eyes.

August Strindberg

Author Bio

  • NameAugust Strindberg
  • DescriptionSwedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter
  • AliasesJohan August Strindberg
  • BornJanuary 22, 1849
  • DiedMay 14, 1912
  • CountrySweden
  • ProfessionPlaywright; Writer; Poet; Photographer; Librarian; Painter; Novelist; Autobiographer
  • WorksThe Red Room; The Father; Miss Julie; Inferno; To Damascus; A Dream Play