Good ( )

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat, author and the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, from 1953 until he died in a plane crash in 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously and the only U.N. Secretary-General to die in office.

This book was his journal discovered after his death, with a note saying it was "a sort of White Book concerning my negotiations with myself - and with God."

The journal shares another man's thoughts, which, of course, sparks more thoughts. Much can be seen of his spiritual journey and/or struggle.

QUOTES:

"Concerning men and their way to peace and concord. It is more important to understand the motives for your own behaviour than the motives of another."

"If while pleading another's cause you are at the same time seeking something for yourself, you cannot hope to succeed."

"Never measure the height of a mountain, until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was."

"Is your disgust at your emptiness to be the only life with which you fill it?"

"Prayer, crystallized in words, assign a permanent wave length on which the dialogue has to be continued, even when our mind is occupied with other matters."

"Why is it that when I know that someone had a tragic or untimely death, my eyes always encounter what they wrote about death?"

"The longest journey
Is the journey inwards.
Of him who has chosen his destiny,
Who has started upon his quest
For the source of his being
(Is there a source?)."

"Is my contact with others anything more than a contact with reflections? Who or what can give me the power to transform the mirror into a doorway?" ( )

Finally finished it! Markings is good, but not for the faint of heart. Every sentence requires deep concentration, and I'm sure there was a lot I missed.

No doubt Hammarskjold was a genius and a man of deep faith. His honesty to look straight at his dark side was inspiring. So many morsels of wisdom. The style of mixing prose and poetry was great -
motivates me to try the same thing. However, I doubt the book would be considered a classic if written by a lesser-known person. ( )

A beautiful book of writings and poems that allows a glimpse into Dag's life, and struggles with spirituality. ( )

I knew absolutely nothing about this when I somewhat randomly plucked from a set of books that were being given away. Now that I have read it, I'm still not sure. It is a collection of very short peices, some just a sentence, some maybe a paragraph. I was thinking of them as aphorisms but isn't the best description. Reflections? Mainly quite religious in nature, many oddly obessesed with death. Now that I've finished it, I still don't quite know what to make of it.

I bought this book in 1965, during college, took it with me into prison and have read it so many times, underlining different sections. Hammarskjold had great insight into the spiritual life. ( )

Rated: A ( )

There is always something new to find in this book. ( )

Still working on it. ( )

Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.
-- Bertil Malmberg (1889-1958) ( )