Quotes from An Enemy of the People

Henrik Ibsen ·  164 pages

Rating: (6.5K votes)


“You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“The majority is never right. Never, I tell you! That's one of these lies in society that no free and intelligent man can help rebelling against. Who are the people that make up the biggest proportion of the population -- the intelligent ones or the fools?”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“You should never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“Public opinion is an extremely mutable thing”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“The most dangerous enemy of the truth and freedom amongst us is the compact majority”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People



“The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“A party is like a sausage machine, it grinds up all sorts of heads together into the same baloney ...”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“Oh, yes--you
can shout me down, I know! But you cannot answer me. The majority has
might on its side--unfortunately; but right it has not.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“I am in revolt against the age-old lie that the majority is always right.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“There is so much falsehood both at home and at school. At home one must not speak, and at school we have to stand and tell lies to the children.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People



“What sort of truths are they that the majority usually
supports? They are truths that are of such advanced age that they are
beginning to break up. And if a truth is as old as that, it is also in
a fair way to become a lie, gentlemen.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“Oh yes, right—right. What is the use of having right on your side if you have not got might?”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“But a scientific man must live in a little bit of style.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“You should never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth, Author”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“The idol of Authority must be shattered in this town.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People



“Dr. Stockmann. I have already told you that what I want to speak about
is the great discovery I have made lately--the discovery that all the
sources of our moral life are poisoned and that the hole fabric of our
civic community is founded on the pestiferous soil of falsehood.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“The right? Ah, what does it help to be in the right if you don't have any power?”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“A normally constituted truth lives, let us say, as a rule seventeen or eighteen, or at most twenty years—seldom longer.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“Dr. Stockmann: Yes, I can afford it now. Katherine tells me I earn almost as much as we spend.
Peter Stockmann: Almost—yes!”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People



“Nikada ne treba oblačiti svoje najbolje odelo kad čovek ide da se bori za slobodu i istinu.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“المجتمع أشبه شيء بالسفينة واجب على
كل من فيها أن يكون على استعداد لتولي قيادتها.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“أقوي رجل في العالم هو ذلك الذي يقف وحيدا دائما”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“اکثریت هیچ وقت حق ندارد - می‌گویم هیچ وقت! این یکی از آن دروغ‌هایی است که افراد آزاد فکر فهیم باید با آن مبارزه کنند. اکثریت افراد یک کشور کی‌ها هستند؟ مردم هوشیارند یا جماعت کودن؟ تصور نمی‌کنم شکی داشته باشید که فعلاً در سراسر جهان، اکثریت مطلق دایم‌التزاید، با مردم کودن و کم‌فهم است! شما هم نمی‌توانید مدعی شوید که حکومت جماعت کودن بر اقلیت فهیم حق است! (غوغا و فریاد جمعیت) اه، بله! می‌دانم که شما می‌توانید دهان مرا ببندید، ولی نمی‌توانید جوابی به من بدهید! بدبختانه اکثریت زور دارد، اما هرگز حق ندارد. من حق دارم. حق با من و معدودی افراد متفرق دیگر است، حق همیشه با اقلیت است.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“لا يملك الرجل الحر الحق أن يلوث نفسه كالبهائم. ليس من حقه أن يضع نفسه في موقف يشعر فيه بالحاجة لأن يبصق علي نفسه.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People



“Å, allmennheten behøver slett ingen nye tanker. Allmenheten er best tjent med de gamle, gode, anerkjente tanker den allerede har.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“...det kan da vel, for fanden, aldri i evighet være rett at de dumme skal herske over de kloke.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“O inimigo mais perigoso da verdade e da liberdade, entre nós, é a enorme e silenciosa maioria dos meus concidadãos.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


“A maioria nunca tem razão! Esta é a maior mentira social que já se disse! Todo o cidadão livre deve protestar contra ela. Quem se constitui na maioria dos habitantes de um país? As pessoas inteligentes ou os imbecis? Estamos todos de acordo, penso eu, em afirmar que, em se considerando o globo terrestre como um todo, os imbecis formam uma maioria esmagadora.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from An Enemy of the People


About the author

Henrik Ibsen
Born place: in Skien, Norway
Born date March 20, 1828
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