Editing Vidkun Quisling (section)

==Personality==
To his supporters, Quisling was regarded as a conscientious administrator of the highest order, knowledgeable and with an eye for detail. He was believed to care deeply about his people and maintained high moral standards throughout.<ref name="dahl328">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=328–331}}.</ref> To his opponents, Quisling was unstable and undisciplined, abrupt, even threatening. Quite possibly he was both, at ease among friends and under pressure when confronted with his political opponents, and generally shy and retiring with both. During formal dinners he often said nothing at all except for the occasional cascade of dramatic rhetoric. Indeed, he did not react well to pressure and would often let slip over-dramatic sentiments when put on the spot. Normally open to criticism, he was prone to assuming larger groups were conspiratorial.<ref name="dahl328"/>

Post-war interpretations of Quisling's character are similarly mixed. After the war, collaborationist behaviour was popularly viewed as a result of mental deficiency, leaving the personality of the clearly more intelligent Quisling an "enigma". He was instead seen as weak, paranoid, intellectually sterile, and power-hungry: ultimately "muddled rather than thoroughly corrupted".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hoberman|first=John M.|title=Vidkun Quisling's Psychological Image|journal=Scandinavian Studies|year=1974|volume=46|issue=3|pages=242–264|pmid=11635923}}</ref>

As quoted by Dahl, psychiatrist Professor [[Gabriel Langfeldt]] stated Quisling's ultimate philosophical goals "fitted the classic description of the [[paranoid]] megalomaniac more exactly than any other case [he had] ever encountered."<ref>{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|p=10}}.</ref>

During his time in office, Quisling arose early, often having completed several hours of work before arriving at the office between 9:30 and 10:00. He liked to intervene in virtually all government matters, reading all letters addressed to him or his chancellery personally and marking a surprising number for action.<ref name="dahl321">{{harvnb|Dahl|1999|pp=321–322}}.</ref> Quisling was independent minded, made several key decisions on the spot and, unlike his German counterpart, he liked to follow procedure to ensure that government remained "a dignified and civilised" affair throughout.<ref name="dahl321"/> He took a personal interest in the administration of Fyresdal, where he was born.<ref name="dahl328"/>

He rejected [[Master race|German racial supremacy]] and instead saw the Norwegian race as the progenitor of Northern Europe, tracing his own family tree in his spare time.<ref name="dahl328"/> Party members did not receive preferential treatment,<ref name="dahl321"/> though Quisling did not himself share in the wartime hardships of his fellow Norwegians. Nevertheless, many gifts went unused and he did not live extravagantly.<ref name="dahl328"/>