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Quote by Peter Høeg

“I sit there in total silence. It's always interesting to leave Europeans in silence. For them it's a vacuum in which the tension grows and converges toward the intolerable.”

Quote by Peter Høeg

Work

Smilla's Sense of Snow

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Author

Peter Høeg

Peter Høeg is a renowned Danish writer born on May 17, 1957. His works are known for their unique narrative style and profound thematic exploration, with notable titles including 'The Danish Girl' and 'Smilla's Sense of Snow'. Høeg's novels often blend reality with fantasy, captivating readers with his distinctive voice. more

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“I do not think there is a demonstrative proof (like Euclid) of Christianity, nor of the existence of matter, nor of the good will and honesty of my best and oldest friends. I think all three are (except perhaps the second) far more probable than the alternatives. The case for Christianity in general is well given by Chesterton…As to why God doesn't make it demonstratively clear; are we sure that He is even interested in the kind of Theism which would be a compelled logical assent to a conclusive argument? Are we interested in it in personal matters? I demand from my friend trust in my good faith which is certain without demonstrative proof. It wouldn't be confidence at all if he waited for rigorous proof. Hang it all, the very fairy-tales embody the truth. Othello believed in Desdemona's innocence when it was proved: but that was too late. Lear believed in Cordelia's love when it was proved: but that was too late. 'His praise is lost who stays till all commend.' The magnanimity, the generosity which will trust on a reasonable probability, is required of us. But supposing one believed and was wrong after all? Why, then you would have paid the universe a compliment it doesn't deserve. Your error would even so be more interesting and important than the reality. And yet how could that be? How could an idiotic universe have produced creatures whose mere dreams are so much stronger, better, subtler than itself?”

“There is something about you that I may never be able to express in these mere words. But someday, when we are sitting beside a window, on a calm evening, in most beautiful silence, with you leaning back on my chest, inside my arms. A breeze shall carry a song which has every word I always wanted to say etched in it and touch you gently. And I shall hug you more tightly while you hear every single word, and I shall see every spell of mine turning you into beautiful magic.”

“It has just been discovered that women carry fetal cells from all the babies they have carried. Crossing the defensive boundaries of our immune system and mixing with our own cells, the fetal cells circulate in the mother’s bloodstream for decades after each birth. The body does not tolerate foreign cells, which trigger illness and rejection. But a mother’s body incorporates into her own the cells of her children as if they recognize each other, belong to each other. This fantastic melding of two selves, mother and child, is called human microchimerism. My three children are carried in my bloodstream still…. How did we not know this? How can this be a surprise?”