Sjón > Quotes

“I have seen the universe! It is made of poems!”
― Sjon, The Blue Fox

“And I would have answered:
"The knottier the branch, the more twisted and misshapen, the more bent people called it, the harder it is to find it a place among the smooth planks, the more people agree that it should be thrown on the fire, the more useless it is, the more unsuitable for anything except letting one's imagination run riot, the more I covet it, the more I yearn to weigh it in my hand, the more I long to let my whittling knife be guided by its knots and veins...Yes, bring that piece to me...”
― Sjón, From the Mouth of the Whale

“In the halls of heaven it was now dark enough for the Aurora Borealis sisters to begin their lively dance of the veils. With an enchanting play of colors they flitted light and quick about the great stage of the heavens, in fluttering golden dresses, their tumbling pearl necklaces scattering here and there in their wild caperings.”
― Sjón, The Blue Fox: A Novel

“I felt the heat of the animosity they bear towards me, the vindictive nature that drives a man to destroy his neighbour in a fire as if he were a banned book...for what is the difference? Every book is imbued with the human spirit.”
― Sjón, From the Mouth of the Whale

“Only those who have learnt the tongue of angels can tell how one’s name will sound in the language of light.”
― Sjón

“Balderdash, I say, let the sword turn into an adder and the adder a salmon and the salmon a birch twig and birch twig a sword and the sword a tongue...Let it all run together so swiftly that it cannot be separated again...”
― Sjón, From the Mouth of the Whale

“Fridrik sat many a night by a smoking lamp, translating into Danish descriptions of the latest methods of keeping us poor humans alive, while on pallets around him lay the corpses, beyond any aid, despite the encouraging news of advances in electrical cures.”
― Sjon , The Blue Fox

“Light, more light!"
But the closer the priest came to his goal, the less man there was in him, the more beast.”
― Sjón

“An ominous hush lies over the busiest, most bustling part of town. No hoofbeats, no rattling of cart wheels or rumble of automobiles, no roar of motorcycles or ringing of bicycle bells. No rasp of sawing from the carpenters’ workshops, or clanging from the forges, or slamming of warehouse doors. No gossiping voices of washerwomen on their way to the hot springs, no shouts of dockworkers unloading the ships, or cries of newspaper hawkers on the main street. No smell of fresh bread from the bakeries, or waft of roasting meat from the restaurants.”
― Sjón, Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was

“Earth fails,
All grows old and worn.
Flesh is dust – however it’s adorned.”
― Sjón, The Blue Fox

“Film is thus immoral by its very nature, transforming the actor into a fetish and fostering perversion in the viewer, who allows himself to be seduced like a moth to the flame. The difference lies in that the cinema audience’s appointment is with the cold flicker of the flame rather than the searing fire itself. The moth burns up, but the viewer can, without fear, surrender to his escalating desire and seek out the experience over and over again, as is, alas, far too often the case. —Dr. G. Árnason, excerpt from “Cinema and Mental Disorders,” The Nation 23 (1916)”
― Sjón, Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was

“every little bit counts in a large household; the cat may seem inclined to do nothing but lick her fur but we would soon be overrun by mice if we hanged her for her vanity”
― Sjón, From the Mouth of the Whale

“Soarele strigoilor - așa îi spun poeții prietenei lor, luna, iar acest nume i se potrivește cum nu se poate mai bine în seara asta, când lumina ei lividă scaldă pâlcul de copaci de pe panta ce străjuiește ferma de la Brekka.”
― Sjon, The Blue Fox

“The malady had him in it's grip - and he had the malady.
Rolling to the wall and rolling away again, rolling to a fro, rolling and rolling, back and forth like chaff and corn, like corn and chaff. He drove his head into the pillow: if only he could keep his head still for a moment the lump would leave his throat. And if the lump left his throat, he would be able to catch his breath. And if he could catch his breath, his stomach muscles would relax. And is his stomach muscles relaxed, his colon wouldn't contract. And if his colon didn't contract, perhaps he would be able to keep his head still for a moment.

So it is to be at sea.”
― Sjón, Codex 1962

“Manau, kad ponas ir ponia Žuvėdros jau turi planų papuotauti mano lavonu, man mirtinai sušalus per vieną tų žygių ištuštinti šikpuodžio. Ką gi, jei jau būtent taip baigsiu savo gyvenimą, puota nebus tokia prabangi, kaip tikisi žuvėdrų gentė, - skanaus joms.”
― Sjón, From the Mouth of the Whale

“<...> vėjo garsas toks švelnus, kad sunku perprasti, ar girdimas kuždesys yra jo pokalbio su žole nuotrupos, ar jis kreipiasi tiesiai į mane, dvelkdamas palei ausį, minkštai, raminamai marmėdamas... Nes jis nepažįsta skirtumo tarp žmogiškųjų būtybių ir gležnų gėlelių <...>”
― Sjón

“Tėvas, piršto galu prilaikydamas tavo stuburą, atsargiai atlenkė delną taip, kad tu išsitiesei, apsivertei ir likai gulėti ant nugaros. Žengiau į priekį, norėdamas geriau į tave įsižiūrėti. Sugniaužtu kumščiu tu pasikasei nosį, baisiai žaviai nusičiaudėjai ir pražiota burna pažvelgei į mane savimylos akimis. Ir aš išvydau, kad ši burna niekada nebus pasotinta, kad krūminiai niekados nenustos malę, o liežuvis niekada nepavargs būti vilgomas kitų gyvų būtybių kraujyje. Tuomet tavo lūpos sujudėjo. Mėginai ištarti savo pirmąjį žodį. Ir tas žodis buvo AŠ.”
― Sjón, From the Mouth of the Whale

“Am văzut universul! E compus din poeme!”
― Sjón, The Blue Fox

“Mutta jos ihmiset oppisivat ymmärtämään paremmin, että heillä on velvollisuuksia muitakin kuin itseään kohtaan, niin kuoleman valinta, joka tuntuu meistä niin epäoikeudenmukaiselta ja julmalta, ei olisi niin vaikeatajuinen. Jos rakkaus olisi suurempi ja voimakkaampi, uusi tuki ja uusi ystävä tulisi jokaisen menetetyn tilalle.”
― Sjón, Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was

“The October evening is windless and cool.”
― Sjón, Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was

“To be something, to have status in society, to be born at the centre of things, to live through momentous times, to be part of the world’s anthology of stories - if only in the gap between the lines, between the words, between the letters, or even in the minute blank space inside the lower-case ‘e’, just once in that dauntingly long book; could there be any more human desire than that? Don’t we all long to be something, to feel that we exist, that others notice our existence, for the brief space of time that we are here?”
― Sjón, Codex 1962