58 Quotes & Sayings By Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was born in the year 1828 in the small town of Skien, in southern Norway. A prolific writer, Ibsen's works include more than thirty plays, one hundred and fifty individual dramas, and a large number of poems and novels. Ibsen is considered a major figure in the history of European drama. His writing is marked by a bleak vision of human existence and a critical attitude toward society. In 1857, he married the actress Laura Elizabeth Haavig in Bergen Read more

In his later years, Ibsen was disappointed by the lack of interest his work received in Norway and turned to writing for foreign audiences with great success. In addition to his plays, Ibsen wrote poetry, books on acting and letters on cultural issues. The first English translation of "Peer Gynt" appeared in 1912.

You see, there are some people that one loves, and...
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You see, there are some people that one loves, and others that perhaps one would rather be with. Henrik Ibsen
To live is to war with trolls.
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To live is to war with trolls. Henrik Ibsen
A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as...
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A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as does a single deed. Henrik Ibsen
I am in revolt against the age-old lie that the...
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I am in revolt against the age-old lie that the majority is always right. Henrik Ibsen
It is the very mark of the spirit of rebellion...
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It is the very mark of the spirit of rebellion to crave for happiness in this life Henrik Ibsen
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I am afraid, Torvald, I do not exactly know what religion is.... When I am away from all this, and am alone, I will look into that matter too. I will see if what the clergyman said is true, or at all events if it is true for me. Henrik Ibsen
A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression...
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A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed. Henrik Ibsen
People so easily forget their past selves.
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People so easily forget their past selves. Henrik Ibsen
To live is - to war with trolls In the...
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To live is - to war with trolls In the holds of the heart and mind Henrik Ibsen
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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. Henrik Ibsen
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The right? Ah, what does it help to be in the right if you don't have any power? Henrik Ibsen
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NORA: Yes; it is just so, Torvald. While I was still at home with father, he used to tell me all his views, and so of course I held the same views; if at any time I had a different view I concealed it, because he would not have liked people with opinions of their own. He used to call me his little doll, and play with me, as I in my turn used to play with my dolls. Then I came to live in your house. . Henrik Ibsen
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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. Henrik Ibsen
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You arranged everything according to your own taste, and so I got the same tastes as you - or else I pretended to. I am really not quite sure which - I think sometimes the one and sometimes the other. Henrik Ibsen
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When I was at home with papa, he told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions; and if I differed from him I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it. He called me his doll-child, and he played with me just as I used to play with my dolls. Henrik Ibsen
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She was an extraordinary person too! Would you believe it, she cut her hair short, and used to go about in men’s boots in bad weather Henrik Ibsen
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I don't imagine you will dispute the fact that at present the stupid people are in an absolutely overwhelming majority all the world over. Henrik Ibsen
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Most people are ennobled by the actual presence of death. But how long do you suppose this nobility will last in him? Henrik Ibsen
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We will talk of this again, when the grass has first withered on her grave. Then you'll hear him spouting about "the child too early torn from her father's heart;" then you'll see him steep himself in a syrup of sentiment and self-admiration and self-pity. Just you wait! Henrik Ibsen
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What is the difference in being alone with another and being alone by one's self? Henrik Ibsen
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You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone. Henrik Ibsen
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One of the qualities of liberty is that, as long as it is being striven after, it goes on expanding. Therefore, the man who stands in the midst of the struggle and says, "I have it, " merely shows by doing so that he has just lost it. Henrik Ibsen
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Helmer: I would gladly work night and day for you. Nora- bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves. Nora: It is a thing hundreds of thousands of women have done. Henrik Ibsen
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Torvald: I would gladly work night and day for you, Nora--bear sorrow and want for your sake. But no man would sacrifice his honour for the one he loves. Nora: But hundreds of thousands of women have done! Henrik Ibsen
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The strongest men are the most alone. Henrik Ibsen
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The strongest man in the world is he who stands alone. Henrik Ibsen
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Laughter's all the damned thing's fit for. Henrik Ibsen
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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
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Ghosts! […] I almost think we are all of us ghosts. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that ‘walks’ in us. It is 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 cannot shake them off. Whenever I take up a newspaper, I seem to see ghosts gliding between the lines. There must be ghosts all the country over, as thick as the sands of the sea. And then we are, one and all, so pitifully afraid of the light. . Henrik Ibsen
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While I think of it, Mr. Werle, junior – don't use that foreign word: ideals. We have the excellent native word: lies. Henrik Ibsen
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Cage an eagle and it will bite at the wires, be they ofiron or of gold. Henrik Ibsen
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Now I am steel-set: I follow the call to the clear radiance and glow of the heights. Henrik Ibsen
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And what if I did run my ship aground oh still it was splendid to sail it! Henrik Ibsen
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To seek one's goals and to drive toward it steeling one's heart is most uplifting! Henrik Ibsen
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This is life! It can harden and it can exalt! Henrik Ibsen
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One should never put on one's best trousers to go out to battle for freedom and truth. Henrik Ibsen
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A minority may be right a majority is always wrong. Henrik Ibsen
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Marriage is something you have to give your whole mind to. Henrik Ibsen
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A minority may be right and a majority is always wrong. Henrik Ibsen
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What's a man's first duty? The answer is brief: To be himself. Henrik Ibsen
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The strongest man is the one who stands most alone. Henrik Ibsen
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The sea possesses a power over one's moods that has the effect of a will. The sea can hypnotize. Nature in general can do so. Henrik Ibsen
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Yes you may depend upon it he has the ability! He is the younger generation that stands ready to knock at my door - to make an end of Halvard Solness. Henrik Ibsen
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A forest bird never wants a cage. Henrik Ibsen
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It is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals let them make their experiments on journalists and politicians. Henrik Ibsen
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The spectacles of experience through them you will see clearly a second time. Henrik Ibsen
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The spectacles of experience through them you will see clearly a second time. Henrik Ibsen
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These heroes of finance are like beads on a string; when one slips off, all the rest follow. Henrik Ibsen
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The pillars of truth and the pillars of freedom - they are the pillars of society. Henrik Ibsen
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Never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth. Henrik Ibsen
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The worst enemy of truth and freedom in our society is the compact majority. Henrik Ibsen
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The spirit of truth and the spirit of freedom - these are the pillars of society. Henrik Ibsen
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People who don't know how to keep themselves healthy ought to have the decency to get themselves buried, and not waste time about it. Henrik Ibsen
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Marriage! Nothing else demands so much of a man. Henrik Ibsen
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Home life ceases to be free and beautiful as soon as it is founded on borrowing and debt. Henrik Ibsen
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Your home is regarded as a model home, your life as a model life. But all this splendor, and you along with it... it's just as though it were built upon a shifting quagmire. A moment may come, a word can be spoken, and both you and all this splendor will collapse. Henrik Ibsen
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The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone. Henrik Ibsen