Henrik Ibsen Quotes

Norwegian playwright and theatre director (1828–1906)

Henrik Johan Ibsen (20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of realism" and is considered one of the founders of Modernism in theatre.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pen Names: Brynjolf Bjarme

Birth Name: Henrik Johan Ibsen

Alternative Names: Henrich Johan Ibsen • Henrich Ibsen

From Wikidata (CC0)

Dr. Stockmann: Yes, I can afford it now. Katherine tells me I earn almost as much as we spend.
Peter Stockmann: Almost — yes!

Live, work, act. Don’t sit here and brood.

What good would that ever do me if you were gone from this world, as you say? Not the slightest.

Så usigelig fattig kan en sjel da gå
tilbake til intet i det tåkete grå.
Du deilige jord, vær ikke vred
at jeg trampet ditt gress til ingen nytte.
Du deilige sol, du har sløset med
dine lysende stenk i en folketom hytte.
Der satt ingen der inne å varme og stemme; -
eieren, sier de, var aldri hjemme.
Deilige sol og deilige jord,
I var dumme at I bar og lyste for min mor.
Ånden er karrig og naturen ødsel.
Det er dyrt å bøte med livet for sin fødsel. -
Jeg vil oppad, høyt, på den bratteste tinde;
jeg vil ennu engang se solen rinne,
stirre meg trett på det lovede land,
se å få snedyngen over meg kavet;
de kan skrive derover «her er ingen begravet»;
og bakefter - siden - ! La det gå som det kan.

"Out there, where the sky shines, humans say: "To thyself be true". In here, trolls say: "Be true to yourself - ish." - Peer Gynt"

Det er just den rette oprørsånd at kræve lykken her i livet. Hvad ret har vi mennesker til lykken?

"To "those about to marry," Ibsen therefore says in effect, "Be sure you are not in love!" And to those who are in love he says, "Part!

He last, late guest
To the gate we followed;
Goodbye – and the rest
The night-wind swallowed.

House, garden, street,
Lay tenfold gloomy,
Where accents sweet
Had made music to me.

It was but a feast
With the dark coming on;
She was but a guest –
And now, she is gone.

Jeg har lest på trykk - og satsen er sann -
«ingen blir profet i sitt eget land».

I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are — or, at all events, that I must try and become one. I know quite well, Torvald, that most people would think you right, and that views of that kind are to be found in books; but I can no longer content myself with what most people say, or with what is found in books. I must think over things for myself and get to understand them.

Hør, skulde det nu ikke være paa Tide at kaste Masken?

Borkman: Dann haben wir uns gegenseitig etwas vorgemacht. Und uns selber haben wir vielleicht auch etwas vorgemacht – beide.
Foldal: Ja, John Gabriel, aber ist das denn nicht im Grunde das Wesen der Freundschaft?
Borkman (lächelt bitter): Doch, doch, lügen und betrügen – das ist Freundschaft. Da hast du recht. Diese Erfahrung habe ich schon einmal in meinem Leben gemacht.

And though I have sailed my boat hard aground,
O, it was so grand to be sailing!

I have skulked up there and wasted eight precious years of my life! The very day I was set free, I should have gone forth into the world — out into the steel-hard, dreamless world of reality! I should have begun at the bottom and swung myself up to the heights anew — higher than ever before — in spite of all that lay between.

NORA: No; only merry. And you were always so friendly and kind to me. But our house has been nothing but a nursery. Here I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I used to be papa's doll-child. And my children were, in their turn, my dolls. I was exceedingly delighted when you played with me, just as children were whenever I played with them. That has been our marriage, Torvald.