Quotation Study: Bear Town, Fredrik Backman

On a series of micro-decisions...

This is not necessarily a review—I just love analysing and unpacking quotes, sometimes even individual words within them. However, as a general rule, if I underline lots of quotes, it’s usually a highly rated book!

These are studies of quotes within certain novels—either unpacking larger themes or simply exploring how each quote makes me feel on its own. I like applying quotes to my life, using them to articulate feelings I’ve never known how to describe. So, welcome to Quotation Studies.

There’s no rhyme or reason here. Just thoughts sprawled out onto a page. It’s me enjoying language as a former literature student who misses the act of unpacking words.

This Weeks Focus: Bear Town, Fredrik Backman

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about culture—how it's formed, how it persists, and how hard it is to undo. I’m only going to focus on three quotes from Beartown, but they all orbit the same idea: culture as a living force. One we participate in whether we realise it or not. One that can create safety or violence, depending on how it’s shaped.

I already wrote another newsletter on culture, but this week Bear town felt particularly relevant. Not because I live in a town obsessed with hockey—but because I’ve been experiencing what I’ll call a mini culture war in my own workplace. I promised this space would be a corporate-free zone, and mostly it is—but truthfully, when you spend most of your waking hours somewhere, it inevitably finds its way into your writing.

But I want to veer away from ranting. This isn’t a complaint. It’s a reflection. Less "why is this happening" and more "what is this reminding me of?"

So let’s begin.

“Culture is as much about what we encourage as what we actually permit.”

We like to think of culture as something abstract—something external that just is. But really, it’s a series of micro-decisions. It's not about grand manifestos or values on a website; it's about the small behaviours we overlook or excuse. It’s shaped in boardrooms and break rooms and group chats. In who gets promoted, who gets ignored, and who gets away with cruelty because they’re “just like that.”

Culture is not neutral. And it’s not inevitable. It’s what we allow. And if we keep allowing harm—out of convenience, fear, apathy—then we’re not just bystanders. We’re co-authors.

This line reminded me of every moment I’ve witnessed someone being belittled, dismissed, or treated unfairly while others stayed silent. Myself included, sometimes. Not because I wanted to be complicit, but because complicity is often the path of least resistance.

And yet, that doesn’t absolve us. What we permit is what we promote. That’s the hard truth.

“Most people don’t do what we tell them to. They do what we let them get away with.”

I’ve seen this firsthand. You can raise concerns, file complaints, have uncomfortable conversations—and still, nothing changes. A manager might give a polite nod to your concerns but continue to shield bad behaviour because the person in question "gets results" or "isn’t that bad." And so the cycle continues. The culture hardens.

I used to believe that being kind and principled was enough—that if you approached people with empathy, they’d meet you halfway. But I've learned (especially in corporate environments) that integrity doesn’t always win. Sometimes, the system rewards the loudest, not the most ethical. It rewards those who bend the rules if they produce numbers.

So yes—people do what we let them get away with. If there’s no consequence, no accountability, no shared standard of decency, then bad behaviour becomes just another part of the culture.

And if you’re the one pushing against that culture, trying to ask better of it, you become the problem. Not the toxic colleague. Not the passive manager. You.

“What you create, others can destroy. Create anyway. Because in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and anyone else anyway.”

It speaks to the defiance of continuing, of holding your values even when no one else seems to care.

Because when you do try to shift culture, you will be met with resistance. People won’t always thank you for your honesty or your ethics. In fact, they might punish you for it. They might say you’re too sensitive, too disruptive, too “difficult.”

But change rarely comes from people who accept things as they are.

This quote reminds me to hold fast to my core—even when it’s exhausting. Even when it feels futile. The truth is, we don’t always get to see the fruits of our labour. But that doesn’t mean we stop planting seeds.

In Bear town, the town cannot bear the idea that their star hockey player could have done something terrible. So they attack the girl who dares to tell the truth. They choose their myth over morality. Their tradition over justice. And those who challenge that choice? They’re cast out. Condemned.

This is what culture does when left unchecked—it protects itself, even if it must destroy people in the process.

But someone has to speak anyway. Someone has to try.

So if you’re trying to create something better—a fairer workplace, a safer space, a more honest conversation—keep going. Even if others don’t listen. Even if they try to destroy it. Even if you’re the only one holding the line.

Because ultimately, that work isn’t about them. It’s about staying true to yourself.

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