Quotes by Dag Hammarskjold

About Dag Hammarskjold:

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld is the youngest to have held the post. He is one of only three people to be awarded a posthumous Nobel Prize. Hammarskjöld is the only UN Secretary-General to die in office; his death occurred en route to cease-fire negotiations. US President John F. Kennedy called Hammarskjöld "the greatest statesman of our century".
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

Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon.

Dag Hammarskjold

Friendship needs no words - it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness.

Dag Hammarskjold

'Freedom from fear' could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights.

Dag Hammarskjold

God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.

Dag Hammarskjold

I am the vessel. The draft is God's. And God is the thirsty one.

Dag Hammarskjold

Life only demands from you the strength that you possess. Only one feat is possible; not to run away.

Dag Hammarskjold

Your position never gives you the right to command. It only imposes on you the duty of so living your life that others can receive your orders without being humiliated.

Dag Hammarskjold

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 Hammarskjold

Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept what can be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles will atrophy.

Dag Hammarskjold

There 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 Hammarskjold

Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.

Dag Hammarskjold

What makes loneliness an anguish is not that I have no one to share my burden, but this: I have only my own burden to bear.

Dag Hammarskjold

It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.

Dag Hammarskjold

The longest journey is the journey inwards. Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started upon his quest for the source of his being.

Dag Hammarskjold

The 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 Hammarskjold

It is playing safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.

Dag Hammarskjold

The more faithfully you listen to the voices within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside.

Dag Hammarskjold

If only I may grow: firmer, simpler, quieter, warmer.

Dag Hammarskjold

It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.

Dag Hammarskjold

The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.

Dag Hammarskjold

I believe that we should die with decency so that at least decency will survive.

Dag Hammarskjold

Author Bio

  • NameDag Hammarskjold
  • DescriptionSwedish diplomat, economist, and author
  • AliasesDag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld
  • BornJuly 29, 1905
  • DiedSeptember 18, 1961
  • CountrySweden
  • ProfessionPolitician; Diplomat; Economist; Poet; Writer
  • AwardsNobel Peace Prize