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“Warto zapamiętać powiedzenie: "Mowa jest srebrem, a milczenie złotem". A ponadto, często powtarzamy ten sam fakt wiele razy; "ipso per ipso" („to samo przez to samo”) – jak mówi łacińskie przysłowie. Potrzebna jest więc większa rozwaga i odpowiedzialność za słowa. Tak naprawdę warto mówić wtedy, gdy ma się coś ważnego do powiedzenia, coś wartościowego do przekazania, porozumienia się, ustalenia czegoś.”

“(...) I share almost ninety-nine per cent of my genes with a chimpanzee - and our longevity is virtually the same - but I don't think you have an inkling of how much more I comprehend, and yet I know I must tear myself away from it. For example, I have a good grasp of just how infinitely great outer space is and how it's divided into galaxies and clusters of galaxies, spirals and lone stars, and that there are healthy stars and febrile red giants, white dwarfs and neutron stars, planets ans asteroids. I know everything about the sun and moon, about the evolution of life on earth, about the Pharaohs and the Chinese dynasties, the countries of the world and their peoples as presently constituted, not to mention all the studying I've done on plants and animals, canals and lakes, rivers and mountain passes. Without even a pause for thought I can tell you the names of several hundred cities, I can tell you the names of nearly all the countries in the world, and I know the approximate populations of every one. I have a knowledge of the historical background of the different cultures, their religion and mythology, and to a certain extent also the history of their languages, in particular etymological relationships, especially within the Indo-European family of languages, but I can certainly reel off a goodly number of expressions from the Semitic language too, and the same from Chinese and Japanese, not to mention all the topographical and personal names I know. In addition, I'm acquainted with several hundred individuals personally, and just from my own small country I could, at the drop of a hat, supply you with several thousand names of loving fellow countrymen whom I know something about - fairly extensive biographical knowledge in some cases. And I needn't confine myself to Norwegians, we're living more and more in a global village, and soon the village square will cover the entire galaxy. On another level, there are all the people I'm genuinely fond of, although it isn't just people one gets attached to, but places as well: just think of the all the places I know like the back of my hand, and where I can tell if someone's gone chopped down a bush or moved a stone. Then there are books, especially all those that have taught me so much about the biosphere and outer space, but also literary works, and through them all the imaginary people whose lives I've come to know and who, at times, have meant a great deal to me. And then I couldn't live without music, and I'm very eclectic, everything from folk music and Renaissance music to Schonberg and Penderecki, but I have to admit, and this has a bearing on the very perspective we're trying to gain, I have to admit to having a particular penchant for romantic music, and this, don't forget, can also be found amongst the works of Bach and Gluck, not to mention Albinoni. But romantic music has existed in every age, and even Plato warned against it because he believed that melancholy could actually weaken the state, and it's patently clear when you get to Puccini and Mahler that music has become a direct expression of what I'm trying to get you to comprehend, that life is too short and that the way human beings are fashioned means they must take leave of far too much. If you've heard Mahler's Abschied from Das Lied von the Erde you'll know what I mean. Hopefully you'll have understood that it's the farewell itself I'm referring to, the actual leave- taking, and that this takes place in the self-same organ where everything I'm saying goodbye to is stored.”

“DER FLEISCHER: Jak to mówi poeta? By złożyć porządne oskarżenie o obrazę honoru trzeba by było znaleźć wystarczającą ilość honoru w tym kraju. Tyle honoru, ile ja straciłem, nie da się w ogóle kupić. W każdym razie moim honorem jest wierność. A czym jest honor dla Pana, nic mnie to nie obchodzi.
[Wie sagt der Dichter? Für eine ordentliche Ehrenbeleidigungsklage müßte es erst mal genügend Ehre in diesem Land geben! Soviel Ehre wie ich schon verloren habe, hätte ja gar nicht zu kaufen gegeben. Meine Ehre hat jedenfalls Treue. Wie sie Ihre nennen ist mir wurscht.]”

“Sensem niemieckich eposów o bohaterach jest, by wywoływały tak wielką gorliwość, by chciało się wydobyć z siebie aż nazbyt wiele. A jeśli się tam nic nie znajdzie, żadnego Zygfryda, nawet żadnego rozumu Zygfryda, cóż, wtedy wyrzuca się wszystko precz. Co tylko jest. Oto cały sens! Para w gwizdek! W razie potrzeby wybija się to, czego się potrzebuje, z kogoś innego. [Der Sinn der deutschen Heldensage ist, einen dermaßen großen Eifer zu entwickeln, daß man schließlich zu viel aus sich herausschlagen will. Und findet man dort nichts, keinen Siegfried, nicht einmal Siegfriedkopf, nun, so wirft man eben alles andere hinaus. Was eben da ist. Soviel Sinn! Soviel heiße Luft! Notfalls schlägt man, was man haben möchte, halt aus einem anderen heraus.]”

“'Liebe geht durch den Magen". Gutes Essen ist der Sex im Alter, sagt man. Statt sexueller Höchstleistungen Riderfilet im Teigmantel mit Rosenkohl a la Meyer. Sich an einem köstlichen Mahl yu erfreuen, ist ab 70 wichtiger als sexuelle Stimulierung. Deshalb geht die Liebe im Alter nicht mehr durch die dafür bestimmten Glieder, sondern ganz banal durch den Magen.”