Quotes from book
Anecdotes of Destiny

Name: Anecdotes of Destiny
Author: Karen Blixen

Anecdotes of Destiny is a collection of stories by Danish author Karen Blixen. It was the last work put out during Karen Blixen's lifetime; it was published in Denmark on October 12, 1958.

“The vain illusions of this earth had dissolved before their eyes like smoke, and they had seen the universe as it really is. They had been given one hour of the millennium.”

Karen Blixen book Anecdotes of Destiny

"Babette's Feast"
Anecdotes of Destiny (1953)
Context: When later in life they thought of this evening it never occurred to any of them that they might have been exalted by their own merit. They realized that the infinite grace of which General Loewenhielm had spoken had been allotted to them, and they did not even wonder at the fact, for it had been but the fulfillment of an ever-present hope. The vain illusions of this earth had dissolved before their eyes like smoke, and they had seen the universe as it really is. They had been given one hour of the millennium.

“It never has happened, and it never will happen, and that is why it is told.”

Karen Blixen book Anecdotes of Destiny

"The Immortal Story"
Anecdotes of Destiny (1953)

“I first began to tell tales to delight the world and make it wiser…”

Karen Blixen book Anecdotes of Destiny

Anecdotes of Destiny (1953)

“When soon I sail from here, I may again run into such a storm as the one in Kvasefjord. But this time I shall clearly understand that it is not a play in the theatre, but it is death. and it seems too that then, in the last moment before we go down, I can in in all truth be yours…”

Karen Blixen book Anecdotes of Destiny

"Tempests"
Anecdotes of Destiny (1953)

“Nobody has seen the trekking birds take their way towards such warmer spheres as do not exist, or rivers break their course through rocks and plains to run into an ocean which is not to be found. For God does not create a longing or a hope without having a fulfilling reality ready for them. But our longing is our pledge, and blessed are the homesick, for they shall come home.”

Karen Blixen book Anecdotes of Destiny

"The Diver"
Anecdotes of Destiny (1953)

“Taciturn old people received the gift of tongues; ears that for years had been almost deaf were opened to it. Time itself had merged into eternity. Long after midnight the windows of the house shone like gold, and golden song flowed out into the winter air.”

Karen Blixen book Anecdotes of Destiny

"Babette's Feast"
Anecdotes of Destiny (1953)
Context: Of what happened later in the evening nothing definite can here be stated. None of the guests later on had any clear remembrance of it. They only knew that the rooms had been filled with a heavenly light, as if a number of small halos had blended into one glorious radiance. Taciturn old people received the gift of tongues; ears that for years had been almost deaf were opened to it. Time itself had merged into eternity. Long after midnight the windows of the house shone like gold, and golden song flowed out into the winter air.