Life expects of you duties which appear repugnant to you. You must now know that the most important thing is not duties but what permits you to be someone good and just. There are many who will say to you that this is a piece of asocial advice, but you only have to reply to them: When the forms of society are so hard and hostile to life, it is more important to be asocial than inhuman
Interpretation
Life demands responsibilities that may seem unappealing, yet being good and just is more vital than fulfilling those duties.
This quote emphasizes the moral imperative of prioritizing goodness and justice over societal expectations that may be burdensome or unjust. The author, Stig Dagerman, suggests that in a society that can be harsh and unkind, it is not merely acceptable, but sometimes necessary, to reject socially imposed duties if they compromise one's humanity or moral integrity.
In practice
During a speech on ethical leadership, one might reference this quote to highlight the importance of moral choices over societal expectations.
The Charter of the United Nations expresses the noblest aspirations of man: abjuration of force in the settlement of disputes between states; the assurance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion; the safeguarding of international peace and security.
What is a good man? A teacher of a bad man. What is a bad man? A good man's charge?
He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy. He never dreamed about the boy. He simply woke, looked out the open door at the moon and unrolled his trousers and put them on.
If we have no heretics we must invent them, for heresy is essential to health and growth.
We poison the wine as He decants it into us; murder a melody He would play with us as the instrument...Hence all sin, whatever else it is, is sacrilege.
Non-Indian writers usually say "Great Spirit," "Mother Earth," "Two-Legged, Four-Legged, and Winged." Mixed-blood writers usually say "Creator, "Mother Earth," "Two-Legged, Four- Legged, and Winged." Indian writers usually say "God," "Mother Earth," "Human Being, Dog, and Bird."
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