The Law of Jante

- What do you think of Princess Martha-Louise?

The Norwegian journalist was interviewing me on the banks of Lake Geneva. As a rule I refuse to answer questions that are not relevant to my work, but in this case there was a reason for his curiosity: on the dress that she had worn on her 30th birthday, the Princess had asked them to embroider the names of some people who had been important in her life - and my name was among them (my wife found the idea so good that she decided to do the same when she turned 50, sewing in one corner of her dress the credit “inspired by the Princess of Norway”).
- I think she is a sensitive, delicate, intelligent person - I answered. - I had the opportunity to meet her in Oslo, when she introduced me to her husband, a writer like myself.
I paused a little, but felt the need to add:
- And there is something that I honestly fail to understand: why did the Norwegian press begin to criticize her husband’s literary work after he got married to the Princess? Before that, all his reviews were positive.
It was not exactly a question, more of a provocation, because I already imagined the answer: the reviews had changed because people feel envy, the most bitter of all human sentiments.
The journalist, however, was more sophisticated than that:
- Because he broke the Law of Jante.
Of course I had never heard of this, so he explained what it was. I continued on my journey and discovered it is hard to find anyone in any of the Scandinavian countries who does not know this law. Although the law exists since the beginning of civilization, it was only officially declared in 1933 by writer Aksel Sandemose in the novel “A refugee goes beyond limits.”
The sad truth is that the Law of Jante is not restricted to Scandinavia: this is a rule applied in every country in the world, despite the fact that Brazilians say that “this only happens here,” and the French claim that “unfortunately, that’s how it is in our country.” Now, the reader must be annoyed because he/she is already half way through the column and still does not know what the Law of Jante is all about, so I’ll try to explain it here briefly in my own words:
“You aren’t worth a thing, nobody is interested in what you think, mediocrity and anonymity are your best bet. If you act this way, you will never have any big problems in life.”
The Law of Jante focuses on the feeling of jealousy and envy that sometimes causes so much trouble to people like Ari Behn, the husband of Princess Martha-Louise. This is one of its negative aspects, but there is something far more dangerous.
And this law is accountable for the world being manipulated in all possible manners by people who have no fear of what the others say and end up practicing the evil they desire. We have just witnessed a useless war in Iraq, which is still costing many lives; we see a huge abyss between the rich and the poor countries of the world, social injustice on all sides, unbridled violence, people being forced to give up their dreams because of unfair and cowardly attacks. Before starting the second world war, Hitler sent out several signals as to his intentions, and what encouraged him to go ahead was the knowledge that nobody would dare to defy him because of the Law of Jante.
Mediocrity may be comfortable, up to the day that tragedy knocks at the door and people start to wonder: “but why did nobody say anything, if everybody could see that this was going to happen?”
Simple: nobody said anything because the others did not say anything either.
So in order to prevent things from growing any worse, maybe this is the right moment to write the anti-Law of Jante:
“You are worth far more than you think. Your work and presence on this Earth are important, even though you may not think so. Of course, thinking in this way, you might have many problems because you are breaking the Law of Jante - but don’t feel intimidated by them, go on living without fear and in the end you will win.”

* * *

The Catholic and the Moslem

During lunch I was talking to a Catholic priest and a young Moslem man. When the waiter passed by carrying a tray, everyone served themselves except the Moslem, who was observing the annual fast prescribed in the Koran.
When lunch was over and the people were leaving, one of the guests could not refrain from commenting: “see how fanatic the Moslems are! It’s a good job you have nothing in common with them.”
“But we do,” said the priest. “They try to serve God as much as I do. We just follow different laws.”
And he added: “what a pity that people only see the differences that separate them from one another. If they looked with more love, they would see mainly what we have in common - and that would be the solution to half of the world’s problems.”

* * *

My father-in-law, Christiano Oiticica

Shortly before he died, my father-in-law gathered the family together and announced:
“I know that death is just a passage, and I want to be able to make this passage without any sadness. To put your minds at rest, I shall send you a sign that it was worthwhile helping others in this life.” He asked to be cremated and for his ashes to be thrown into the ocean at Arpoador beach in Ipanema while a tape played his favorite pieces of music.
He died two days later. A friend arranged for his cremation in São Paulo and when we returned to Rio we all went to Arpoador beach with the radio, the tapes and the package with the little urn containing his ashes. Standing facing the sea, we discovered that the lid of the urn was closed with screw-nails. We tried to open it, but to no avail.
There was nobody around, just a beggar, who came up to us and asked: “What do you want?”
My brother-in-law answered: “A screwdriver, because my father’s ashes are inside this box.”
“He must have been a very good man, because I just found this lying over there,” said the beggar, holding out a screwdriver.

* * *

“Warrior of the Light, a www.paulocoelho.com.br publication.”