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– Fotball er en lagidrett, sier Birgitte idet barna samler seg rundt henne, – det betyr at dere må spille sammen, laget er ikke bedre enn den svakeste spilleren, fortsetter hun, hvorpå samtlige små hoder dreies mot vesle Oscar.

— Så gjør vi så by Helga Flatland

In our traditional systems of Law we remember, however, that everyone is an idiot from time to time. Punishment is harsh and swift, but afterwards there is no criminal record, no grudge against the transgressor. Perpetrators are only criminals until they are punished, and then they may be respected again and begin afresh to make a positive contribution to the group. In this way, people will not lie and shift blame or avoid punishment by twisting rules to escape accountability. They can look forward to a clean slate and therefore be willing and equal participants in their own punishment and transformation, which is a learning process more than anything else.

— Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta

David Broder mener at italiensk politikk flere ganger har gitt et forvarsel på internasjonale fenomener. «Kollapsen i det italienske partisystemet først på 1990-tallet og den italienske politikkens svingninger gjør at fenomener og trender kommer raskere til overflaten der», sier han, og legger til:

“Det vi har sett i Italia siden Berlusconis første regjering, ligner veldig på det vi ser i hele Vesten: de politiske partienes sammenbrudd, en mer lederfokusert politisk modell og at skillet mellom mainstream sentrum-høyre og ytre høyre-krefter forsvinner, og det selv om de siste har røtter i historisk fascisme eller sprer rasistiske konspirasjonsteorier.”

— Hat: fortellinger om ytre høyre by Øyvind Strømmen

Hans norska måg var ett tjurhuvud och ett besvärligt manfolk. Han var egen och självrådig och envis till döds, som ju norskarna var. Han skröt alltid med att det var norskarna som hade skjutit ihjäl Sveriges Hjälte Karl XII.

— Sista brevet till Sverige by Vilhelm Moberg (Utvandrarna)

I owe so much to the Other’s generosity. Without him I would not sleep snug and warm in my sleeping bag in Winter. I would not have notebooks in which to record my thoughts.

That being said, it occurs to me to wonder why it is that the House gives a greater variety of objects to the Other than to me, providing him with sleeping bags, shoes, plastic bowls, cheese sandwiches, notebooks, slices of Christmas cake etc., etc., whereas me it mostly gives fish.

— Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Was it more honourable to starve than to steal? Many people would say yes, though rarely those who’d actually experienced an empty belly, or a child whimpering with its own hunger. Was it more honourable to starve than to steal when others had the means to feed you but chose not to, unless you paid with money you did not have? He thought not. By choosing to starve you became your own oppressor, keeping yourself in line, harming yourself for having the temerity to be poor, when by rights that ought to be a constable’s job. Show any initiative or imagination and you were called lazy, shifty, crafty, incorrigible. So he’d dismissed talk of honour; it was just a way of making the rich and powerful feel better about themselves and the powerless and poverty-stricken feel worse.

— Matter by Iain M. Banks (Culture, #8)

Since the World began it is certain that there have existed fifteen people. Possibly there have been more; but I am a scientist and must proceed according to the evidence. Of the fifteen people whose existence is verifiable, only Myself and the Other are now living.

— Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Men herrar och herrskap hade sin vanliga rikliga kost även under missväxt och svälttider. Lagom till de stora nödåren hade de fyra stånden avskaffats i Sverige. Sedan återstod det bara två stånd: Det mätta ståndet och det svältande.

— Sista brevet till Sverige by Vilhelm Moberg (Utvandrarna) (Page 310)