Quotes by Eyvind Johnson

• A writer's work often reflects what he or she has been exposed to in life; experiences which are the groundwork of a poem or a story.
• In the world of the present, in our time, we feel that suffering, anguish, the torments of body and soul, are greater than ever before in the history of mankind.
• Many men of science and poets have in their own manner, by various ways and means, and aided by others, sought unceasingly to create a more tolerable world for everyone.
• And this we should believe: that hope and volition can bring us closer to our ultimate goal: justice for all, injustice for no-one.
• A poet or prose narrator usually looks back on what he has achieved against a backdrop of the years that have passed, generally finding that some of these achievements are acceptable, while others are less so.
• From the throes of inspiration and the eddies of thought the poet may at last be able to arrive at, and convey the right admixture of words and meaning.