Source: Out of Africa (1937)
Context: People who dream when they sleep at night know of a special kind of happiness which the world of the day holds not, a placid ecstasy, and ease of heart, that are like honey on the tongue. They also know that the real glory of dreams lies in their atmosphere of unlimited freedom. It is not the freedom of the dictator, who enforces his own will on the world, but the freedom of the artist, who has no will, who is free of will. The pleasure of the true dreamer does not lie in the substance of the dream, but in this: that there things happen without any interference from his side, and altogether outside his control. Great landscapes create themselves, long splendid views, rich and delicate colours, roads, houses, which he has never seen or heard of...
Karen Blixen: Quotes about the world
Karen Blixen was Danish writer. Explore interesting quotes on world.
Out of Africa (1937)
Context: The true aristocracy and the true proletariat of the world are both in understanding with tragedy. To them it is the fundamental principle of God, and the key, the minor key, to existence. They differ in this way from the bourgeoisie of all classes, who deny tragedy, who will not tolerate it, and to whom the word tragedy means in itself unpleasantness.
Source: Babette's Feast and Other Anecdotes of Destiny
“I first began to tell tales to delight the world and make it wiser…”
Anecdotes of Destiny (1953)
"The Deluge at Norderney"
Seven Gothic Tales (1934)
"The Cardinal's First Tale"
Last Tales (1957)
Letter to her sister Elle (1923); later published in Letters from Africa: 1914-1931 (1981) edited by Frans Lasson, translated by Anne Born.
"The Old Chevalier"
Seven Gothic Tales (1934)
“God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road.”
As quoted in obituaries (7 September 1962)