The quotations of

Dag Hammarskjöld

Swedish diplomat, economist, and author

1905–1961

11 quotes, most often on Life & Death.

Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment.
Vägmärken · Markings (1963), 6 October 1957
- Life & Death
Humility is just as much the opposite of self-abasement as it is of self exaltation. To be humble is not to make comparisons.
Vägmärken · Markings (1963), 29 July 1959
- Pride
- Virtue
There is a point at which everything becomes simple and there is no longer any question of choice, because all you have staked will be lost if you look back. Life’s point of no return.
Vägmärken · Markings (1963), 1951
- Decisions
Forgiveness breaks the chain of causality because he who ‘forgives’ you — out of love — takes upon himself the consequences of what you have done. Forgiveness, therefore, always entails a sacrifice.
Easter 1960
- Forgiveness
It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity. It is when we all play safe that fatality will lead us to our doom. It is in the “dark shade of courage” alone that the spell can be broken.
Servant of Peace: A Selection of the Speeches and Statements of Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the United Nations (1962), p. 107
- Courage
- Risk
The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.
Vägmärken · Markings (1963), 1955
- Character
Your cravings as a human animal do not become a prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend to them.
Vägmärken · Markings (1963), 1941–1942
- God
- Prayer
Is life so wretched? Isn’t it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddied? You are the one who must grow up.
Vägmärken · Markings (1963), 1950
- Life & Death
- Maturity
Destiny is something not to be desired and not to be avoided … it is a mystery not contrary to reason, for it implies that the world, and the course of human history, have meaning.
Vägmärken · Markings (1963), 26 December 1956
- History
- Philosophy
We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours.
Vägmärken · Markings (1963), 1950
- Life & Death
- Responsibility
Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road.
Vägmärken · Markings (1963), 1925–1930
- Advice
- Motivation & Goals

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