Quotes from Tove Jansson

I grunnen hadde ingen av dem lyst til å snakke. Ennå. De hadde god tid, sommeren lå lang og full av løfter foran dem.

There ought to be a big fuss when people move up in the world.

The ghosts, as we call them – and as I shall call them in my letters from now on... It seems to me that the world is full of women whose men don't satisfy their need for affection, eroticism, understanding etc... I haven't made the final decision, but I'm convinced that the happiest and most genuine course for me would be to go over to the ghost side.

It was an early, very warm morning in July, and it had rained during the night. The bare granite steamed, the moss and crevices were drenched with moisture, and all the colors everywhere had deepened. Below the veranda, the vegetation in the morning shade was like a rain forest of lush, evil leaves and flowers ...

What is constantly changing is superior to what is static. The Hothouse

Jag äger allt jag ser och känner mig glad åt. Hela jorden om du vill.

Tell them it's a secret. Tell them they don't need to know.

Of course you have to feel free. Naturally you must go away. I do understand that you have to be alone sometimes. (Moomintroll to Snufkin)

I very nearly wished that I had been born a Hatti-fattener under the Hattifatteners' vague and drifting stars, and that no one expected anything else of me than that I also should be drifting along toward an unattainable horizon, never speaking to anyone and never mindful to anything.

There were little animals everywhere. They could turn up between the covers of a book, flattened and dead, for the fact is that creeping animals, tattered animals, and dead animals are with us all our lives, from beginning to end.

I very nearly wished that I had been born a Hattifattener under the Hattifatteners' vague and drifting stars, and that no one expected anything else of me than that I also should be drifting along toward an unattainable horizon, never speaking to anyone and never mindful of anything.

Isn't it a nice thing to know that someone's longing for you and waiting and waiting to see you again? (Little Creep to Snufkin)

Er zijn leemtes die je moet respecteren; de vaak lange periodes waarin je het hele beeld niet ziet, de woorden niet kunt vinden en met rust gelaten moet kunnen worden.

But Snufkin took out his mouth-organ and played his gayest adventure-song (not just-the-right-sized adventure, but a terrific one) about rescues and surprises and sunshine.

My head was awhirl with thoughts I really had no need of, and for the first time I found no pleasure at all in thinking about myself. I had sunk into a state of deep gloom, which has also come over me at times later in my life when other people are achieving more than I myself.

Je moet dingen nooit herhalen. Dat zou een verkeerd einde zijn.

Damp veils of mist swirled around them. They were dreadfully cold (Moomintroll thought longingly of his woolly trousers) and surrounded completely by an awful floating emptiness. "I always thought clouds were soft and woolly and nice to be in," said Sniff, sneezing. "Ugh! I'm beginning to be sorry I ever came on this expedition.

Better not ask people about everything. They might like to keep their secrets to themselves.

een spannende gedachte begon vorm te krijgen; de mogelijkheid om alleen te zijn, helemaal in je eentje, in alle rust en vol verwachting, bijna een soort dwaasheid die je je kunt permitteren wanneer je gezegend bent let liefde.

It looks as if neither of us will ever convince the other. But do we need to?" "No, the other person only needs to listen and understand." "I can accept that." - The Hothouse

Det blir mest lite väder och vind som man har att skriva om. (…) Det kan hända att man blir tyst av att bo länge pa tumanhand, i varje fall på en ö. Det man säger har mest bara att göra med vardagens gång och om vardagen går som den brukar säger man ännu mindre.

Ifall det är någon som inte vet vad pensionerad betyder så är det att man får göra precis vad man har lust till i frid och ro när man har blivit tillräckligt gammal. Åtminstone hade hemulens släktingar förklarat det så.

Yes, you're right. One makes a trip by day, but by night one sets out on a journey

een spannende gedachte begon vorm te krijgen; de mogelijkheid om alleen te zijn, helemaal in je eentje, in alle rust en vol verwachting, bijna een soort dwaasheid die je je kunt permitteren wanneer je gezegend bent met liefde.