Quotes from Ghosts

“It is the very mark of the spirit of rebellion to crave for happiness in this life”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“It's not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that walks in us. It's all sorts of dead ideas, and lifeless old beliefs, and so forth. They have no vitality, but they cling to us all the same, and we can't get rid of them.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“I am half inclined to think we are all ghosts…it is not only what we have inherited from our fathers and mothers that exists again in us, but all sorts of old dead ideas and all kinds of old dead beliefs and things of that kind. They are not actually alive in us; but there they are dormant all the same, and we can never be rid of them. Whenever I take up a newspaper and read it, I fancy I see ghosts creeping between the lines. There must be ghosts all over the world. They must be as countless as the grains of the sands, it seems to me. And we are so miserably afraid of the light, all of us.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“I thought you understood where I'd lost what you call my heart at the time.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“Ja, De tvang meg inn under det som De kalte plikt og skyldighet; da De lovpriste som rett og riktig hva hele mitt sinn opprørte seg imot noe vederstyggelig. Da var det jeg begynte å se Deres lærdomme efter i sømmene. Jeg ville bare pille ved en eneste knute; men da jeg hadde fått den løst, så raknet det opp alt sammen. Og så skjønte jeg at det var maskinsøm.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“OSWALD: [Repeats, in a dull, toneless voice.] The sun. The sun.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“OSWALD: For I'm not so afraid of death--though I should like to live as long as I can.
MRS. ALVING: Yes, yes, Oswald, you must!
OSWALD: But this is so unutterably loathsome.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“OSWALD: Is it very late, mother?
MRS. ALVING: It is early morning. [She looks out through the conservatory.] The day is dawning over the mountains. And the weather is clearing, Oswald. In a little while you shall see the sun.
OSWALD: I'm glad of that. Oh, I may still have much to rejoice in and live for--”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“io credo che anche noi, tutti noi non siamo
nient'altro che degli spettri... in noi continua a circolare e a scorrere e a vivere non soltanto ciò che abbiamo ereditato
dai nostri genitori, dico il sangue paterno e materno, ma anche tutti i pensieri immaginabili che sono già stati pensati, le
vecchie credenze morte e sepolte, ogni specie di cose antiche e defunte a cui un tempo si è prestato fede e così via, in
una catena senza fine. Fantasmi senza vita che però si annidano nel nostro sangue, e che noi non possiamo scacciare.
Basta che io prenda un giornale, e mi metta a leggere, e mi sembra di vedere degli spettri che scivolano e sgusciano fra
le righe... ah, devono essere tanti, innumerevoli come i granelli di sabbia nel mare... e noi tutti viviamo nell'ombra,
timorosi della luce, della chiarezza, della verità..”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“People so easily forget their past selves.”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

“Znate Manderse, ja gotovo verujem da smo svi mi aveti. Ne kreće se u nama samo ono što smo nasledili od oca i majke. To su i svi mogući i stari i mrtvi nazori, svakakva stara i mrtva verovanja itd. To ne živi u nama, ali nam leži u krvi i ne možemo ga se osloboditi. Kad god uzmem novine u ruke i čitam ih, čini mi se kao da se aveti šunjaju između redova. Mora da svuda na zemlji žive aveti. Mora da ih im toliko mnogo, koliko i peska u moru. I zato se svi mi tako bedno plašimo svetla, svi redom.

Aveti”
― Henrik Ibsen, quote from Ghosts

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“I think the day might come, Bess, when all men will know of Dickon is what they were told by Tudor historians like Rous."
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About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.