No matter what happens, nothing can prevent the historical process by which society demands freedom and democracy.

Historical truth is that, and that alone, which reveals the forces that go to mould the social life of mankind.

Swedes, we are not - Russians, we do not want to become ... so let us be Finnish.

Every time some new huckster of angst-ridden metaphor is appointed by Art Forum, the congregation genuflects, stroking the catalog like a handful of Rosary beads, and starts spreading that old gospel according to Hyperbole. No questions asked... And thus the bill of goods is sold, all along the line. An art historical snake, swallowing its own tale.

A word is nothing unless it has values and an atmosphere, unless you grasp its historical significance.

For historical reasons, there is still some room for us to improve with respect to human rights.

Those old credulities, to Nature dear, Shall they no longer bloom upon the stock Of history?

The Web throws all the historical ways of thinking about this stuff out the window. If I were going to start something today, that's what I'd do.

The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the 'disenchantment of the world.' Precisely the ultimate and most sublime values have retreated from public life either into the transcendental realm of mystic life or into the brotherliness of direct and personal human relations. It is not accidental that our greatest art is intimate and not monumental.

I never sat down and said, 'I'm going to write historical fiction with strong romantic elements.' It was just the way the stories went.