Flemish Quotes

“What seems mysterious can be understood.”
― Simon Stevin

“It was van Hulle who had been the initiator of this restoration of their ancestral language to its former glory as a means of reawakening national consciousness. He had called conferences and incited a vast number of people to petition the authorities. He was truly the first apostle of the Movement, to which people like Borluut, Farazyn and Bartholomeus had rallied. Now the drive was slackening. None of their hopes had been realised, apart from the use of the Flemish language. And now that point had been conceded, they saw that it had not produced any important changes for Bruges. At most it was as if a dead body had been put in a different coffin.”
― Georges Rodenbach, The Bells of Bruges

“The crowd listened all the more closely for having waited and despaired, especially since this time the bells, ringing softly, demanded a deeper hush. The prelude was muted, a blend in which one could no longer distinguish bells alternating then coming together, it was a concert of bronze united, as if far off and very old. Music in a dream! It did not come from the tower, but from much farther away, from the depths of the sky, from the depths of time. This carillonneur had had the idea of playing some old Christmas carols, Flemish carols born of the race, mirrors in which it recognises itself. Like everything that has passed through the centuries, it was very solemn and a little sad.”
― Georges Rodenbach, The Bells of Bruges

“Tyl Ulenspiegel" is a hearty Flemish grabbag—dirt and folk and anarchism and Robin Hood-ness, Bosch and I suppose Rembrandt and a Flemish philosophical novel, and the final denouement even offers the concept of the gifted man who from the solitude of intelligence slips gratefully into ordinary human happiness, the progress from the "hero" to "a man.”
― Edwin Denby, Dancers, Buildings and People in the Streets

“Nondedzju!”
― Cyriel Buysse, Het recht van den sterkste

“Zo klein in gestalte doch o zo groot in gedachte, is die hofnar!”
― Leen Lefebre, Soraia, kind van de zee (ZOMER)

“De kam kliefde door de baren als vaders vloot op zee.”
― Leen Lefebre, Soraia, kind van de zee (ZOMER)

“There is a fundamental problem with one placing the word of Allah above civil law, just as there is a problem with not recognizing the separation of church and state. I'm not going to be so naughty and say that a Muslim can never be Flemish, everyone has to decide that for themselves. But I think Islam is not compatible with our Flemish identity.”
― Tom Van Grieken

“There is a reason why there is no more Inca culture: there are no more Incas. You need the bearer of a culture. If there are no Flemish, there will be no more Flemish culture.”
― Tom Van Grieken

“Malditos flamencos follacabras. Ojalá el infierno fuera lo suficientemente amplio para acogerlos a todos.”
― Álber Vázquez, Juana, la reina traicionada