73 Quotes by John Ajvide Lindqvist

But the simple fact of bearing a responsibility can be something that gives meaning to life.

He got up and left the bathroom. Didn’t wipe up the drop of blood. Let someone see it, let them wonder. Let them think someone had been killed here, because someone had been killed here. And for the hundredth time.

Will I do?’ he asked. ‘You’ll do. In fact, you’ll more than do. Do you know which word suits you?’ ‘No.’ ‘It’s a beautiful word. You’re mysterious.

Perhaps what set the saints apart – the holy women and men – was that they held fast to what they had seen, not allowing their realisation to fade and die, but they held on, held on and refused to let go, saw forgetfulness as a tool of the devil and held on. Maybe this was the secret.

When it comes to life, all you can change is the equivalent of furniture, paint and windows. Doors, maybe. Change the things that are in too bad a state and hope the core holds.

Speaking of 2001, I celebrated the turn of the millennium with Stefan and Karin. The so-feared computer crash did not occur.

Terror gave birth to terror, hatred begat hate and all that was left in the end was a pile of burnt bodies. As everywhere; as always.

It was like a blackout in reverse. Since around nine o’clock, no lamps could be switched off, no electrical appliances powered down. If you tried to pull out the plug there was an alarming crackling sound and sparks flew between the outlet and the plug, preventing the circuit from being broken.

He thought “what the hell was that?” but didn’t have the energy to pursue it.