179 Quotes by Isak Dinesen

In one of his novels about a sterile and painful relationship, Aldous Huxley uses the expression, "the love of the parallels"--that hopeless love between two parallel lines which stretch out simultaneously but can never meet.

If a man can devote himself undisturbed to the work which is on his mind, he can, as far I have observed, completely ignore his surroundings--they disappear for him; he can sit in filth and disorder, draught and cold, and be completely happy. For most women it is insufferable to sit in a room if the color scheme displeases them.

Han rakte armene ned og tog hendes lommetørklæde op. Uden at tage øjnene fra hendes ansigt trak han igen kniven ud af skeden, og svøbte det lille lette stykke kammerdug omkring det lange knivsblad.

Nosotras las mujeres no somos lo bastante inteligentes para ser escépticas. Así que vivimos, y más intensamente que los hombres, creo yo; tenemos una especie de sentimiento de triunfo simplemente porque existimos.(Citado por J. Marías en una entrevista sin consignar la fuente.)

I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills.

There are many highly intelligent people who have no answer at all in them. A conversation or a correspondence with such persons is nothing but a double monologue--you may stroke them or strike them, you will get no more echo from them than from a block of wood. And how, then, can you yourself go on speaking?

The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.

There is something about safari life that makes you forget all your sorrows and feel as if you had drunk half a bottle of champagne — bubbling over with heartfelt gratitude for being alive.

I have a feeling that wherever I may be in the future, I will be wondering whether there is rain at Ngong.