David was born in 1981 in Uppsala. Lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Jante Law: From the book A fugutive crosses his tracks (1933),
by Aksel Sandemose.
English translation by Eugene Gay-Tift (New York, A.A. Knopf, 1936.)
You’re not to think you are anything special.
You’re not to think you are as good as we are.
You’re not to think you are smarter than we are.
You’re not to convince yourself that you are better than we are.
You’re not to think you know more than we do.
You’re not to think you are more important than we are.
You’re not to think you are good at anything.
You’re not to laugh at us.
You’re not to think anyone cares about you.
You’re not to think you can teach us anything.
An eleventh rule is recognised in the novel as ‘the penal code of Jante’ is:
Perhaps you don’t think we know a few things about you?
