1849-1912, Swedish Dramatist, Novelist, Poet
A man with a so-called character is often a simple piece of mechanism; he has often only one point of view for the extremely complicated relationships of life.
J. August Strindberg – [Character]
Antipathy, dissimilarity of views, hate, contempt, can accompany true love.
J. August Strindberg – [Antipathy]
Family… the home of all social evil, a charitable institution for comfortable women, an anchorage for house-fathers, and a hell for children.
J. August Strindberg – [Family]
Friendship can only exist between persons with similar interests and points of view. Man and woman by the conventions of society are born with different interests and different points of view.
J. August Strindberg – [Friends and Friendship]
Happiness consumes itself like a flame. It cannot burn for ever, it must go out, and the presentiment of its end destroys it at its very peak.
J. August Strindberg – [Happiness]
I always disliked dogs, those protectors of cowards who lack the courage to fight an assailant themselves.
J. August Strindberg – [Dogs]
I dream, therefore I exist.
J. August Strindberg – [Dreams]
I hated her now with a hatred more fatal than indifference because it was the other side of love.
J. August Strindberg – [Love Ended]
In the old days, one married a wife; now one forms a company with a female partner, or moves in to live with a friend. And then one seduces the partner, or defiles the friend.
J. August Strindberg – [Living Together]
People are constantly clamoring for the joy of life. As for me, I find the joy of life in the hard and cruel battle of life — to learn something is a joy to me.
J. August Strindberg – [Learning]
Sorrow has the fortunate peculiarity that it preys upon itself. It dies of starvation. Since it is essentially an interruption of habits, it can be replaced by new habits. Constituting, as it does, a void, it is soon filled up by a real ''horror vacuum.''
J. August Strindberg – [Sorrow]
That is the thankless position of the father in the family — the provider for all, and the enemy of all.
J. August Strindberg – [Fathers]
The hood-winked husband shows his anger, and the word jealous is flung in his face. Jealous husband equals betrayed husband. And there are women who look upon jealousy as synonymous with impotence, so that the betrayed husband can only shut his eyes, powerless in the face of such accusations.
J. August Strindberg – [Infidelity]
What an occupation! To sit and flay your fellow men and then offer their skins for sale and expect them to buy them.
J. August Strindberg – [Writers and Writing]
Why is it so painful to watch a person sink? Because there is something unnatural in it, for nature demands personal progress, evolution, and every backward step means wasted energy.
J. August Strindberg – [Failure]