Karl Ove Knausgard Quotes

I'm not a hugger. People make fun of me. It's something that I have a hard time with. If someone hugs me, I hold my breath. Snuggling, cuddling, hugging, crying - all that stuff makes me very uncomfortable.

I'm always a little innately shy when I first talk to a girl, and I think I always will be! But I think that's a good thing. You don't want to lose that.

I've gotten better at not making people feel uncomfortable with my shyness.

I was one of those weird children that just couldn't talk to people, so I kind of had to make myself be not like that because I knew it was going to hinder me.

When I meet people for the first time, I'm friendly but shy. I'm much less outwardly nervous than I used to be, but I still get anxious sometimes.

It's not necessarily the best situation for me to try to hug someone unless I really know them. And I don't really know anybody, so.

I don't understand why my fans ask for a hug, like, i don't mind, just come and hug me!

Shyness means you are in the hallway of a greater presence. You just don't know how to take the conversation another step. It's a lovely indication.

It's cool that we got rid of that, but we got rid of everything - the encouraging pat on the back or even a hug which I find can be acceptable in some situations. I know that it's a sensible subject and that we're trying to avoid nasty things, but [you can] have as many rules as you want, there will still be stuff happening anyway.

I realized that even I have weird intimacy issues with humans - like, I need my friendships to get deeper, I need to be locked in, I need to remember people's names. I know this sounds really stupid, but I just need to be more present in my life.

I'm interested in extrovert characters, people who are doing something. But I used to only be able to photograph people I was interested in or attracted to, either psychologically or physically. That all changed when I did the 'Go Sees.'

As a young guy I was really shy, more shy than I am now.

I'm a people person. I'm a hugger.

I've become a little immune to the gazes of strangers because it's been a part of my life for so long.

I didn't overcome my shyness. I am still shy.

I had social anxiety to the max. I was scared of my own shadow! But as I grew, I got more comfortable with myself.

In my fiction, I pursue this idea of intimacy, but also - philosophically, politically - I just feel like that's the interesting question for me. How much can we share with other people? I'm not interested in human individuality; I don't even know what that means.

I guess I tell jokes a lot, but I'm not really that sure because sometimes they don't laugh, and they just stare at me like I said something insulting.

Everything I learned about women, I learned from the ages of 13-16. Every girl would talk to me about their problems, and none of them wanted to date me. So, I learned all of these things. So, when I finally got to the place where I could hit on girls, I just referenced back to all the things that I learned in high school.

The Free Body Culture gave me a gift I might never have received had I refused to play along. It left me with an acute sense of the absurd - one I still cherish - to be there among my fellow apes, awkward and less than half-willing, aiming and missing, leaping, landing and wincing.

I've had girls that kissed me on the cheek. People get so pumped, and so excited, they don't see you as a person. Which is fair. Sometimes, I don't see people as people. But at the end of the day, you can't put your hands on me unless I hug you first.

I was this very self-conscious, shy person once I hit my teens.

I have no problem if someone wants to hug me - if I know him!

I had been thinking about social awkwardness and about people you meet who are not bad people - there is nothing wrong with them, but they are just a little bit awkward, and it makes you feel uncomfortable, and it makes you want to bring the encounter to an end. I thought, 'Is there a reason for that? What has contributed to their demeanour?'

The only reason I figured out I didn't like my old records to listen was I could hear how nervous I was and how uncomfortable I was. And who would want to sit around and listen to yourself being uncomfortable?