I opened my copy almost at random and saw this quote, highlighted, in the chapter “Bech and the Bounty of Sweden”:

The interviewer from Svenska Dagladet asked Bech what he thought of the future of Socialism. He answered that he thought it was in a down phase, but would be back as an alternative; the world was a sick man turning over and over in bed. The weak must always be protected somewhat from the strong, but not so satisfactorily that no incentive remains to become strong. Failure must have real penalites, or there will be no striving for success.

And this:

So capitalism, our creed triumphant, was right: the masses are brought along, pulled in their millions up the ladder of prosperity built by enterprise and technology.

And this:

“I don’t think God plays well in Sweden,” he said. “God sticks pretty close to the equator.”

And from the chapter “Bech Noir”:

But lately he had begun to wonder if Hemingway and Tolstoy weren’t right: war was truth, in an unbearably pure state. It has shaped the map and spawned the most vigorous moral principle, that of tribal loyalty.

And this:

My mission has changed; I wanted to add to the world’s beauty, but now I merely wish to rid it of ugliness.

I could easily go on and on, so many captivating, provocative sentences and pargraphs are highlighted from a long ago reading, but I’ll end with just these two:

Words: how could he have dedicated his life to anything so flimsy, so flexible so ready to deceive?
In the midst of life, death is a misstep away.