It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses. Dag Hammarskjold More Quotes by Dag Hammarskjold More Quotes From Dag Hammarskjold I never discuss discussions. Dag Hammarskjold discussion 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. Dag Hammarskjold maturity play children It is not the repeated mistakes, the long succession of petty betrayals--though, God knows, they would give cause enough for anxiety and self-contempt--but the huge elementary mistake, the betrayal of that within me which is greater than I--in complacent adjustment to alien demands. Dag Hammarskjold betrayal self mistake So rests the sky against the earth. The dark still tarn in the lap of the forest. As a husband embraces his wife's body in faithful tenderness, so the bare ground and trees are embraced by the still, high, light of the morning. I feel an ache of longing to share in this embrace, to be united and absorbed. A longing like carnal desire, but directed towards earth, water, sky, and returned by the whispers of the trees, the fragrance of the soil, the caresses of the wind, the embrace of water and light. Content? No, no, no - but refreshed, rested - while waiting. Dag Hammarskjold husband faith morning In a political context of the utmost significance, ["freedom from fear"] recognizes a human right which, in a broad sense, may be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights. Dag Hammarskjold political rights philosophy The life of simplicity is simple, but it opens to us a book in which we never get beyond the first syllable. Dag Hammarskjold simplicity simple book For the sacrificed, in the hour of sacrifice, only one thing counts: faith-alone among enemies and skeptics. Faith, in spite of the humiliation which is both the necessary precondition and the consequence of faith, faith without any hope of compensation other than he can find in a faith which reality seems so thoroughly to refute. Dag Hammarskjold sacrifice faith reality I have only my own burden to bear. Dag Hammarskjold burden challenges bears At some moment I did answer "Yes" to someone or something. And from that hour on I was certain that existence is meaningful. Dag Hammarskjold moments answers meaningful He is one of those who has had the wilderness for a pillow, and called a star his brother. Alone. But loneliness can be a communion. Dag Hammarskjold stars nature brother Beneath the hush a whisper from long ago, promising peace of mind and a burden shared. No peace which is not peace for all, no rest until all has been fulfilled. Dag Hammarskjold burden long-ago mind At every moment you choose yourself. But do you choose *your* self? Body and soul contain a thousand possibilities out of which you can build many I's. But in one of them is there a congruence of the elector and the elected. Only one--which you will never find until you have excluded all those superficial and fleeting possibilities of being and doing with which you toy, out of curiosity or wonder or greed, and which hinder you from casting anchor in the experience of the mystery of life, and the consciousness of the talent entrusted to you which is your *I*. Dag Hammarskjold anchors greed self Fatigue dulls the pain, but awakes enticing thoughts of death. So! that is the way in which you are tempted to overcome your loneliness -- by making the ultimate escape from life. -- No! It may be that death is to be your ultimate gift to life: it must not be an act of treachery against it. Dag Hammarskjold pain loneliness work Doffing the ego's safe glory, he finds his naked reality. Dag Hammarskjold naked ego reality Isn't the fulfillment of our duty towards our neighbor an expression of deepest desire? Dag Hammarskjold neighbor expression desire The truth is so simple that it is regarded as a pretentious banality. Dag Hammarskjold pretentious truth-is simple Perhaps a great love is never returned. Had it been given warmth and shelter by its counterpart in the Other, perhaps it would have been hindered from ever growing to maturity. It "gives" us nothing. But in its world of loneliness it leads us up to the summits with wide vistas - of great insights. Dag Hammarskjold maturity loneliness love Acts of violence-- Whether on a large or a small scale, the bitter paradox: the meaningfulness of death--and the meaninglessness of killing. Dag Hammarskjold bitter violence killing When you have reached the point where you no longer expect a response, you will at last be able to give in such a way that the other is able to receive, and be grateful. When Love has matured and, through a dissolution of the self into light, become a radiance, then shall the Lover be liberated from dependence upon the Beloved, and the Beloved also be made perfect by being liberated from the Lover. Dag Hammarskjold grateful light self The light died in the low clouds. Falling snow drank in the dusk. Shrouded in silence, the branches wrapped me in their peace. When the boundaries were erased, once again the wonder: that *I* exist. Dag Hammarskjold nature clouds fall
