Quotes from Kallocain

Karin Boye ·  193 pages

Rating: (3.6K votes)


“Ni bygger utifrån , vi byggs inifrån och in. Ni bygger med er själva som stenar och faller sönder utifrån och in. Vi bygger inifrån som träd, och det växer ut broar mellan oss som inte är död materia och dött tvång. Från oss går det levande ut. I er går det livlösa in, sid 75”
― Karin Boye, quote from Kallocain


“And is this not the very reason for the establishment of the State? If there were cause and reason for confidence among individuals, the State would never have come into existence. The sacred and essential foundation for the State is our mutual and well-founded suspicion of each other. Anyone questioning this foundation throws suspicion upon the State.”
― Karin Boye, quote from Kallocain


“Vad jag vet är, att av sjuka föräldrar och sjuka lärare fostras ännu sjukare barn, tills det sjuka har blivit norm och det friska en skräckbild. Av ensamma föds ännu ensammare, av rädda ännu räddare (s. 144)”
― Karin Boye, quote from Kallocain


“Alla är inte sanna nog för att höra sanningen, det är det sorgliga. Den kunde vara en bro mellan människa och människa - så länge den är frivillig, ja - så länge den ges som en gåva och tas emot som en gåva. Är det inte underligt att allting mister sitt värde så fort det upphör att vara en gåva - till och med sanningen?”
― Karin Boye, quote from Kallocain


“Vi har gått mot allt strängare övervakning - och den har inte gjort oss säkrare, som vi hoppades, utan ängsligare. Med vår skräck växer också impulsen att så omkring oss. Är det inte så: då ett vilt djur känner sig hotat och inte ser någon utväg att fly, går den till anfall. Då skräcken smyger sig över oss, finns det inget annat att göra än att hugga först. Det är svårt, när vi inte ens vet vartåt vi ska hugga... Men bättre förekomma en förekommas ( s. 105)”
― Karin Boye, quote from Kallocain



“Min tunga hade alltid varit ett smidigt och pålitligt verktyg, men nu vägrade den att göra tjänst mer. Alldeles som jag nyss hade hade lyssnat för första gången i mitt liv, visste jag, att om jag nu vill tala, måste det vara på ett nytt sätt, som jag ännu inte var mogen för. De lager av mig själv, som nu skulle komma till tals, hade väl aldrig förr format några ord (s. 138).”
― Karin Boye, quote from Kallocain


“Yo odio a las mujeres. Te seducen, ¿verdad?, pero luego no te aguantan. Son falsas. Las odio a todas.”
― Karin Boye, quote from Kallocain


“Ті, кому бракує щирості, не можуть сприймати правду.”
― Karin Boye, quote from Kallocain


About the author

Karin Boye
Born place: in Gothenburg, Sweden
Born date October 26, 1900
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Maybe it was the post-battle itches, but Blair couldn’t settle. After another session with Glenna, everyone’s injuries were well on the mend, so they could train. They should train, she told herself. Maybe the sweat and”
― Nora Roberts, quote from Dance of the Gods


“Desire abides. It is all people have that stands proof against time. Everything else rots.”
― Charles Frazier, quote from Thirteen Moons


“Every happy man should have some one with a little hammer at his door to knock and remind him that there are unhappy people, and that, however happy he may be, life will sooner or later show its claws, and some misfortune will befall him -- illness, poverty, loss, and then no one will see or hear him, just as he now neither sees nor hears others. But there is no man with a hammer, and the happy go on living, just a little fluttered with the petty cares of every day, like an aspen-tree in the wind -- and everything is all right.”
― Anton Chekhov, quote from Selected Stories


“There is a darkness in you. In all of us, probably. Beasts we keep chained. Ordinary men have to keep the chains strong, for if we let the beast loose then society will turn upon us with fiery vengeance. Kings though...well, who is there to turn upon them? So the chains are made of straw. It is the curse of kings, Helikaon, that they can become monsters. And they invariably do.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Shield of Thunder


“WL’s [White Liberals] think all the world’s problems can be fixed without any cost to themselves. We don’t believe that. There’s a lot to be said for sacrifice, remorse, even pity. It’s what separates us from roaches”
― Tracy Kidder, quote from Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World


Interesting books

An Object of Beauty
(45.6K)
An Object of Beauty
by Steve Martin
Between the Lines
(35.1K)
Between the Lines
by Jodi Picoult
Book of Shadows
(21.3K)
Book of Shadows
by Cate Tiernan
Ironside
(31.7K)
Ironside
by Holly Black
Cryer's Cross
(10K)
Cryer's Cross
by Lisa McMann
Last Stand of Dead Men
(7.4K)
Last Stand of Dead M...
by Derek Landy

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.