Quotes from Roald Dahl

Is it ever occurring to you that a human bean who is fifty is spending about twenty years sleeping fast?

I'm afraid the camera got smashed against the side of the Space Hotel, Mr. President," Shuckworth replied. The President said a very rude word into the microphone and ten million children across the nation began repeating it gleefully and got smacked by their parents.

What on earth were you trying to do, make yourself look handsome or something? You look like someone's grandmother gone wrong!

I am hearing all the secret whisperings of the world!

We are now about to visit the most marvelous places and see the most wonderful things!

Yesterday, he said, we was not believing in giants, was we? Today we is not believing in snozzcumbers. Just because we happen not to have actually seen something with our own two little winkles, we think it is not existing.

I, Willy Wonka, have decided to allow five children – just five, mind you, and no more – to visit my factory this year.

A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men," Mr. Wonka said.

Aren't I going back to England? No, she said. I Could never do that. Heaven shall take my soul, but Norway shall keep my bones.

Well, first of all, said the BFG, human beans is not really believing in giants, is they? Human beans is not thinking we exist.

Sophie took the book out of his hand. 'Nicholas Nickleby,' she read aloud. 'By Dahl's Chickens,' the BFG said. 'By who?' Sophie said.

When you're writing, it's rather like going on a very long walk

A few weeks later, in the wood, I came across Miss Riding Hood. But what a change! No cloak of red, No silly hood upon her head. She said, 'Hello, and do please note My lovely furry wolfskin coat.

In fairy-tales, witches always wear silly black hats and black cloaks, and they ride on broomsticks. But this is not a fairy-tale. This is about REAL WITCHES. The most important thing you should know about REAL WITCHES is this. Listen very carefully. Never forget what is coming next.

What a lot of hairy-faced men there are around nowadays.

It was an unhappy truth, he told himself, that nearly all people in the world behave badly when there is something really big at stake.

A life is made up of a great number of small incidents and a small number of great ones.

You chose books. I chose looks.

There are a whole lot of things in this world of ours you haven't started wondering about yet.

the world is a scary place for such a small child

If you can think of anything more terrifying than that happening to you in the middle of the night, then let's hear about it.

Being very small and very young, the only power Matilda had over anyone in her family was brain-power.

It was one of those golden autumn afternoons and there were blackberries and splashes of old man's beard in the hedges, and the hawthorn berries were ripening scarlet for the birds when the cold winter came along. There were tall trees here and there on either side, oak and sycamore and ash and occasionally a sweet chestnut.

I'm afraid men are not always quite as clever as they think they are.