Knowledge of other people's beliefs and ways of thinking must be used to build bridges, not to create conflicts.

We have to find compromises. That's the way it is in Norway.

Extremists and populist movements are exploiting people's fear of those who are not like us. We can see the consequences in the form of terrorism and racially motivated violence.

We must never relinquish the vision of a humane society and a humane world.

We have a good life when we manage to live with both satisfied and unsatisfied needs, when we are not obsessed by what is beyond our reach.

Terrorism is contempt for human dignity.

Human dignity is independent of national borders. We must always defend the interests of the poor and the persecuted in other countries.

We must remember that politics is more than a power game. The core of politics in my view is to serve our citizens, to serve our fellow human beings.

Don't believe those who claim that only left wing parties really care about employment.

Unfortunately, religion, like patriotism, is easy to misuse for political purposes.

It is typically Norwegian to be good

Help others without any reason and give without the expectation of receiving anything in return.

Unhappy people needs your smile more than Happy people do

The way we think, define the way we act.

Experience is not worth the getting. It's not a thing that happens pleasantly to a passive you--it's a wall that an active you runs up against.

If the same phrase in the same place created the right effect, I was perfectly prepared to use it every time. I wasn't worried that I wasn't improvising.

Commercial music, for the most part, is popular music and you always have to keep that in mind.

In general, I'm not much into etiquette and am a rule-breaker and rebel by nature.

Leaders don't rise to the pinnacle of success without developing the right set of attitudes and habits; they make every day a masterpiece.

People more easily tolerate opposition than a contradiction

Whoever established the high road, and how high it should be, should be fired.