Quotes from Tove Jansson

Du får aldrig ett eget ansikte förrn du lär dig att slåss.

To the final landscape of our old age, as summer fades...Silence settles around us, each of us wanders his own way, and yet we all meet by the sea in the peaceful sunset.

Siinä on jotakin hyvin hienoa, kun saa kokea viimeisen vanhuutensa maiseman katoavassa kesässä. Ympärillä tyyntyy, itse kukin vaeltaa omaa tietään, mutta kaikki me kohtaamme meren rannalla tyynessä iltaruskossa.

It's funny about love," Sophia said. "The more you love someone, the less he likes you back." "That's very true," Grandmother observed. "And so what do you do?" "You go on loving," said Sophia threateningly. "You love harder and harder.

if words lie face down there's a chance they might change during the night; you may suddenly come to see them with a new eye, perhaps with a rapid flash of insight. It is conceivable.

Repeat after me,' said Moomintroll, "may the ground swallow me up may old hags rattle my dry bones, and may I never more eat ice-cream if I don't guard this secret with my life." Go on now.

There one is safe. In a museum or in a lap or in a tree. Perhaps under the bedclothes. But the best thing of all is to sit high up in a tree, that is if one isn't still inside one's Mummy's tummy.

Grandmother sat in the magic forest and carved outlandish animals. She cut them from branches and driftwood and gave them paws and faces, but she only hinted at what they looked like and never made them too distinct. They retained their wooden souls...

In the middle of the gravel was a large sign with black latters that said PRIVATE PROPERTY--NO TRESPASSING. "We'll go ashore," Grandma said. She was very angry. Sophia looked frightened. "There's a big difference," her grandmother explained. "No well-bred person goes ashore on someone else's island when there's no one home. But if they put up a sign, then you do it anyway, because it's a slap in the face.

The Groke looked at the hat. Then she looked at Thingumy and Bob. Then she looked at the hat again. You could see that she was thinking with all her might. Then suddenly she snatched the hat and, without a word, slithered like ann icy grey shadow into the forest. It was the last time she was seen in the Valley of the Moomins, and the last they saw of the Hobgoblin's Hat, too. At once the colors became warmer again and the garden was filled with the sounds and scents of summer.

My modesty compels me to admit that there are three fields where my genius appears to feel somewhat cramped, namely, engineering, mathematics, and cookery. (Moominpappa)

Because we're going to stay here a little while and calm down until I've learned your names. Light my pipe, someone!

Are you tired?" Wladyslaw asked. "Yes." "Then I won't say much more. Just one thing - and now, my friend, you must give me your complete attention. it is simply this: do not tire, never lose interest, never grow indifferent - lose your invaluable curiosity and you let yourself die. It's as simple as that. No?

Forget the past and all your fears. Think of the super fun That we can have. I'd love to see the beach, a shell, the sun. ... And Miffle knows, and Toffle knows, that both have seen the end Of fear and fright and long, dark night, now each has found a friend

And I was sitting on my verandah believing they were so remarkable and free, just because they never spoke a word and were always on the move. They hadn't a single word to say and nowhere to go...

Thingumy and Bob sighed contentedly and settled down to contemplate the precious stone. They stared in silent rapture at it. The ruby changed colour all the time. At first it was quite pale, and then suddenly a pink glow would flow over it like sunrise on a snow capped mountain -- and then again crimson flames shot out of its heart and it seemed like a great black tulip with stamens on fire.

When the kite was finished, it refused to fly and kept slamming into the ground as if it wanted to destroy itself, and finally it threw itself in the march. Sophia put it outside Grandmother's door and went away.

The world is full of great and wonderful things for those who are ready for them." – Moominpappa

Jostain syystä en ole koskaan tullut toimeen hämähäkkien kanssa, jos ne ovat niin pieniä, ettei niiden kanssa voi puhua.

Sometimes people are very predictable: they want a kitten in June, for example, and come the first of September they want someone to drown their cat. So someone does. But other times, people have dreams and things they want they can keep. Eriksson was the man who fulfilled these dreams. No one knew exactly what he found for himself along the way - probably a lot less than people thought. But he went on doing it anyway, perhaps for the sake of the search.

is that they come up with so many ideas and then they manage to carry them out and believe so strongly in what they do.

Sophia," she said, "this is really not something to argue about. You can see for yourself that life is hard enough without being punished for it afterwards. We get comfort when we die, that's the whole idea

It can be sad having a friend you've admired too much and seen too rarely and told too many things that you should have kept to yourself.

One evening, Sophia wrote a letter and stuck it under the door. It said, "I hate you. With warm personal wishes, Sophia.