Quotes from Iceland's Bell

“Vont er þeirra ránglæti, verra þeirra réttlæti.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Iceland's Bell

“...nothing is true that cannot be proven--and therefore, it's not true.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Iceland's Bell

“Og nú heldur hann þeir svensku séu ekki jafngáfaðir og hann. Ég skal segja þér: þeir eru gáfaðri en hann, þeir eru svo gáfaðir að einginn kraftur fær þá til að trúa því að það samsafn af lúsugum betlurum norðrí raskati, sem kallar sig íslendinga og nú eru bráðum allir dauðir guðisélof, hafi skrifað fornsögurnar.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Iceland's Bell

“Item, I've read that there's not a single virgin to be found in your country," said the statesman.

"Where might you have read this?" asked the Professor Antiquitatum.

"The good auctor Blefken says this."

"I wonder if the good auctor might not have misread his sources," said Arnaeus. "The best auctores tell us that Icelandic girls remain chaste virgins up until they've had their seventh child, Your Benevolence.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Iceland's Bell

“Тролска руна се чертае с жлъчка от врана върху вътрешната страна на кожа от светлокафява кучка, след туй се нанася отгоре й кръв от чер котарак, чието гърло е било прерязано на пълнолуние от недокосвана девица.
- А ти как успя да накараш недокосвана девица да заколи черен котарак? - попита Йон Хреквидсон.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Iceland's Bell

“When I was a child I was told that whoever swallowed a hock-bone would one day own land," she said. "Have you tried that? I was told a sheep's hock-bone bought a croft, a cow's an estate.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Iceland's Bell

“Can't we make a blusterer ourselves? asked Jón Hreggviðsson. Can't we scratch that damned sign with the ax-point onto the chopping block and get a beautiful, chubby woman in here tonight, right now-or preferably three? It was no easy matter to create such a sign, because in order to do so the two men required much greater access to the animal kingdom and the forces of nature than conditions in the dungeon permitted. The sign of the Blusterer is inscribed with a raven's gall on the rust-brown inner side of a bitch's skin, and afterward blood is sprinkled over the skin - blood from a black tomcat whose neck has been cut under a full moon by an unspoiled maiden. Where'd you find an unspoiled maiden to cut a black tomcat's neck asked Jón Hreggviðsson.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Iceland's Bell

“We Danes have always been charitable in our trading operations with Iceland. And when our deceased Highness monopolized trade with the island it was only in order to prevent outsiders from extorting those pitiable people.” As”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Iceland's Bell

“A fat servant is not much of a man. A beaten servant is a great man, because in his breast freedom has its home.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Iceland's Bell

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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.