Quotes from Roald Dahl

A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom.

A good plot is like a dream.

Most of the really exciting things we do in our lives scare us to death. They wouldn't be exciting if they didn't.

We don't hold with book-reading, Mr. Wormwood said. You can't make a living from sitting on your fanny and reading story-books.

If it's by an American it's certain to be filth. That's all they write about.

She sat there majestic in her armchair, filling every inch of it. Not even a mouse could have squeezed in to sit beside her.

Shakespeare, daddy." "Was he brainy?" "Very, daddy." "He had masses of hair, did he?" "He was bald, daddy." To which the father had snapped, "If you can't talk sense then shut up.

The very rich are enormously resentful of bad weather. It is the one discomfort that their money cannot do anything about.

Every dream in the world is making a different sort of buzzy-hum music.

Ah, Piglet, you must never trust Young ladies from the upper crust.

For whipping cream, of course. How can you whip cream without whips?

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" And at the same time, his long bony body rose up out of the bed and his bowl of soup went flying into the face of Grandma Josephine, and in one fantastic leap, this old fellow of ninety-six and a half, who hadn't been out of bed these last twenty years, jumped on to the floor and started doing a dance of victory in his pajamas.

A witch never gets caught. Don't forget that she has magic in her fingers and devilry dancing in her blood.

Anyone can ask questions," said Mr. Wonka. "It's the answers that count.

What a nice child she is, Miss Honey thought. I don't care what her father said about her, she seems very quiet and gentle to me. And not a bit stuck up in spite of her brilliance.

you should be able to make a scene come alive in the reader's mind. Not everybody has this ability. It is a gift, and you either have it or you don't.

Children should never have baths,' my grandmother said. 'It's a dangerous habit.' 'I agree, Grandmamma.

Most of the really exciting things we do in our lives scare us to death. They wouldn't be exciting if they didn't.

Don't worry,' he said. 'So long as the facts are there, I can write the story. But please,' he added, 'let me have plenty of detail. That's what counts in our business, tiny little details, like you had a broken shoelace on your left shoe, or a fly settled on the rim of your glasses at lunch, or the man you were talking to had a broken front tooth...

REAL WITCHES dress in ordinary clothes and look very much like ordinary women. They live in ordinary houses and they work in ORDINARY JOBS.

George didn't say a word. He felt quite trembly. He knew something tremendous had taken place that morning. For a few brief moments he had touched with the very tips of his fingers the edge of a magic world.

I think you is barking up the wrong dog.

I think the reason I do not want to die is because of the things I hope will happen. Yes, that's right. I'm sure that's right. Point a revolver at a tramp, at a wet shivering tramp on the side of the road and say, I'm going to shoot you, and he will cry, Don't shoot. Please don't shoot. The tramp clings to life because of the things he hopes will happen.

If she's a lady, I'm a vernicious knid. (Eddie Albert in Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory)