When someone asks me to list the 10 best novels ever written, I always refuse to answer. Henning Mankell More Quotes by Henning Mankell More Quotes From Henning Mankell Many people say I smile more in Africa than in Sweden. Henning Mankell i-smileswedenpeople I am not afraid of dying. I have lived longer than most people in the world. What scares me is to have a body that works but a brain that is waving goodbye. If that happens, I hope I die quickly. Henning Mankell braingoodbyepeople It’s only when we can work with something that brings out our strengths that we’re of any real use. Henning Mankell self-fulfillmentrealuse They pondered the importance of coffee in silence. Henning Mankell importancecoffeesilence Some people give theirselves a certain number of white weeks once in a year, when they do not drink a single drop of alcohol. It is really wise. I myself have a few weeks per year, let us call them white or black, when I am not interested in the world around. When I come back from this isolation of the news, I realize that I have missed nothing significant. We live in the rain of disinformation and rumors, where the truth is a very small number. In those weeks of dissociation I seek for knowledge that lies within me. Henning Mankell wiserainlying Each person searches for the most beautiful jump which will be the final before leaving this world. Henning Mankell finalsleavingbeautiful As a writer, I am an intellectual. I believe in the ideals of the Enlightenment, I believe in the written word, in dialogue and in truth. I hate lies more than anything else. Most of the time I react by writing. Henning Mankell hatebelievelying I work in an old tradition that goes back to the ancient Greeks. You hold a mirror to crime to see what's happening in society. I could never write a crime story just for the sake of it, because I always want to talk about certain things in society. Henning Mankell mirrorsgreekwriting Sweden is still a very peaceful country to live in. I think that people in Britain have created this mythology about Sweden, that it's a perfect democratic society full of erotically charged girls. Henning Mankell girlcountrythinking I can still remember. I was ill, and I was seven, and my father didn't want me to just read children's books. He came with Conan Doyle. I tried, and I liked it. I think the first I read was 'The Sign of the Four'; 'Study in Scarlet' was the next one. Then I guess I stayed home a few extra days from school to read. Henning Mankell fatherbookchildren Although I never marched through the streets shouting for Mao, I do believe that the liberation of China at the end of the 1940s was a wonderful thing and to provide its people with a billion pairs of shoes and trousers was a fantastic achievement. Henning Mankell shoesbelievepeople Poverty always looks the same, no matter where you come across it. The rich can always express their opulence by varying their lives. Different houses, clothes, cars. Or thoughts, dreams. But for the poor there is nothing but compulsory grayness, the only form of expression available to poverty. Henning Mankell clothesexpressiondream Although many of his other novels are brilliant there is a power in 'Oliver Twist' that I believe Dickens never managed to retrieve. It is as if he was sent to this earth with the sole purpose of writing this book. Henning Mankell writingbelievebook At the time of independence in 1975, Mozambique was extremely poor. Many Portuguese residents abandoned the country, leaving only a handful of well-educated Mozambicans to try to run the country. Henning Mankell leavingrunningcountry You think you know everything about a person, but the truth often comes as a surprise. Henning Mankell you-think-you-knowsurprisethinking One of the agonies of being an author is to know when to stop writing. Henning Mankell agonyknowswriting Shakespeare is in many ways an African writer and 'Hamlet' would be seen as a very accurate historical saga about an African kingdom. Henning Mankell historicalkingdomswould-be Children get acquainted with each other in a special way, they do not make contracts as adults, they believe each other or not. Childish friendships often end in violence. You may become an enemy all of a sudden as well as notice that you are someone's best friend. Henning Mankell believechildrenenemy I came to Mozambique in 1986, when I first became involved with Teatro Avenida - a theatre company that stages plays concerned with political and social issues. Henning Mankell issuespoliticalplay Police work wouldn't be possible without coffee. Henning Mankell police-workpolicecoffee
