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The strength of a nation was not based on the number of individuals belonging to it, but on their activity and intelligence. I therefore consider the Finns in Finland to be in the same position in relation to the Swedes as the Welsh are in relation to the English, with the possible consequence of the Swedes becoming Swedes.

— Axel Olof Freudenthal Ruotsalaisuus Suomessa (1944)

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More quotes by Axel Olof Freudenthal

The nickname suomalaistollot is commonly used (among Finnish Swedes), and asking "are you Finnish" has the same meaning as: are you completely devoid of intelligence?

Ruotsalaisuus Suomessa (1944)

Our task is to fight against the Fennoman hordes and to defend our Swedish mother tongue, our Swedish law, our Swedish social order, in a word, our culture in all its forms against any enemy.

Ruotsalaisuus Suomessa (1944)

Many mocking stories about the Finns' kinship with the devil, the creation of the Finns and how it happened, and many others are commonplace, and are always received (by Finnish Swedes) with great joy.

Ruotsalaisuus Suomessa (1944)

The Finns could not be reconciled to the right of self-determination of the peoples, because the conditions of the majority were not sufficient. Here it could not be thought that the Finns, as the lower educated, could suppress the Swedish minority.

Ruotsalaisuus Suomessa (1944)

Those nations which, like the tribes of the Chudo-Finnish, have never proved intelligent enough to become the advocates of freedom or civilisation, may, without the spirit of humanity shedding a tear on their graves, disappear from the earth, or they may, as peaceful peasants and countrymen, content themselves with the idyllic patriarchal life best suited to their loyal and slow nature.

Ruotsalaisuus Suomessa (1944)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Axel Olof Freudenthal (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.