"The Law of Jante is a code of conduct created in fiction by the Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose and [is used] to explain the egalitarian nature of Nordic countries."
"The Law of Jante characterizes as unworthy and inappropriate any behavior that is not conforming, does things out of the ordinary, or is personally ambitious."
"The Law of Jante is used generally in colloquial speech in the Nordic countries as a sociological term to denote a social attitude of disapproval towards expressions of individuality and personal success."
"There are ten rules in the Law of Jante as defined by Sandemose, all expressive of variations on a single theme and usually referred to as a homogeneous unit: You are not to think you're anyone special, or that you're better than us."
1. You're not to think you are anything special.
2. You're not to think you are as good as we are.
3. You're not to think you are smarter than we are.
2. You're not to think you are as good as we are.
3. You're not to think you are smarter than we are.
4. You're not to imagine yourself better than we are.
5. You're not to think you know more than we do.
6. You're not to think you are more important than we are.
7. You're not to think you are good at anything.
5. You're not to think you know more than we do.
6. You're not to think you are more important than we are.
7. You're not to think you are good at anything.
8. You're not to laugh at us.
9. You're not to think anyone cares about you.
10. You're not to think you can teach us anything.
9. You're not to think anyone cares about you.
10. You're not to think you can teach us anything.
"An 11th rule recognized in the novel as 'the penal code of Jante' is: Perhaps you don't think we know a few things about you?"
"Sandemose made no claim to having invented the rules; he simply sought to formulate social norms that had stamped the Danish and Norwegian psyches for centuries."
"Although intended as criticism of society in general, the meaning of the Law of Jante has shifted to refer to personal criticism of people who want to break out of their social groups and reach a higher position."
"While the original intention was as satire, Kim Orlin Kantardjiev claims that the Law of Jante is taught in schools as more of a social code to encourage group behavior, and wants to credit it with fueling Nordic countries' high happiness scores."
"However, in Scandinavia, there have also been journalistic articles which link the Law of Jante to high suicide rates."
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