Dag Hammarskjold

The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.

The more faithfully you listen to the voices within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside.

If even dying is to be made a social function, then, grant me the favor of sneaking out on tiptoe without disturbing the party.

The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are, the more leisure we have.

Maturity - among other things, the unclouded happiness of the child at play, who takes it for granted that he is at one with his play-mates.

It is easy to be nice, even to an enemy - from lack of character.

Praise those of your critics for whom nothing is up to standard.

I never discuss discussions.

I believe that we should die with decency so that at least decency will survive.

Only he deserves power who every day justifies it.

What makes loneliness an anguish is not that I have no one to share my burden, but this: I have only my own burden to bear.

Those who invoke history will certainly be heard by history. And they will have to accept its verdict.

Time goes by, reputation increases, ability declines.

Your body must become familiar with its death - in all its possible forms and degrees - as a self-evident, imminent, and emotionally neutral step on the way towards the goal you have found worthy of your life.

It is playing safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.

Your position never gives you the right to command. It only imposes on you the duty of so living your life that others can receive your orders without being humiliated.

It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.

Your cravings as a human animal do not become a prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend to them.

The myths have always condemned those who 'looked back.' Condemned them, whatever the paradise may have been which they were leaving. Hence this shadow over each departure from your decision.

I am the vessel. The draft is God's. And God is the thirsty one.