Flemming Rose Quotations

We would run these cartoons the same day as they would publish them.

When I visit a mosque, I show my respect by taking off my shoes. I follow the customs, just as I do in a church, synagogue or other holy place. But if a believer demands that I, as a nonbeliever, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission. And that is incompatible with secular democracy.

No cartoon is worth a human life. But what is happening has more to do with the situation in the Middle East than 12 cartoons in a Danish newspaper.

I have committed an error. I am 100 percent with the newspaper's line and Carsten Juste in this case.

I do not think they are asking for respect in this case. They want me to follow one of their taboos in the public domain. And I think there's a very fundamental principle in secular society that you cannot insist on everybody paying special attention to your religious feelings.

I feel sorry if Muslims feel offended and that was not the intention. But the cartoons were within the acceptable boundaries of free speech in Denmark.

There is no disagreement whatsoever between me and the company. I'm tired, I have been under huge pressure, and I am grateful to the paper for this time off.

I think it's very unfortunate that now Danish interests, Danish buildings are being attacked in Syria, but let me also say that Syria is a police state, and this could not have happened if not the authorities in some way had allowed it to happen.

My newspaper is trying to establish a contact with the Iranian newspaper and we would run the cartoons the same day as they publish them.

When Muslims say you are not showing respect, I would say: You are not asking for my respect, you are asking for my submission.

These were not directed against Muslims, but against people in cultural life in Europe who are submitting themselves to self-censorship when dealing with Islam.

There was a story out there and we had to cover it. We just chose to cover it in a different way, according to the principal: don't tell it, show it.

What is one man's hate speech is another man's poetry.

The point here is what makes human beings different from other creatures is our ability to use language. We can use words to express ourselves in very eloquent and complex ways. We grow up telling and listening to stories. That's what turns us into the people we are.

There is no society that protects freedom of religion more than secular democracies, because in societies where one religion rules, different viewpoints will be labelled as heresy and blasphemy. Why? Because the society is built on religion - not freedom for all points of view.

I think it would be unfortunate if people in Saudi Arabia or some parts of the world influenced what we speak about in Denmark. [But] it's a fact of globalization, and we must consider it.

The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions. And by treating Muslims in Denmark as equals they made a point we are integrating you into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society, not strangers. The cartoons are including, rather than excluding, Muslims.

The only right we do not and should not have in a liberal democracy is a right not to be offended.

I am not confrontational. I am not a crusader.

I commissioned the cartoons in response to several incidents of self-censorship in Europe caused by widening fears and feelings of intimidation in dealing with issues related to Islam.

The idea wasn't to provoke gratuitouslyand we certainly didn't intend to trigger violent demonstrations throughout the Muslim world. Our goal was simply to push back self-imposed limits on expression that seemed to be closing in tighter.

The furor over the cartoons has been a wake-up call for Danes. We are used to seeing ourselves as a permissive and open society on the side of the good, and it is shocking to see Danes as objects of hate.

The furor over the cartoons has been a wake-up call for Danes.

The cartoons did nothing that transcends the cultural norms of secular Denmark, and this was not a provocation to insult Muslims.