Quotes from William Steig

Oh, Life, I am yours. Whatever it is you want of me, I am ready to give.

Did you ever see anybody so disgusting: said lightning to thunder, "never," growled thunder, "let's give him the works.

Later she sat on the ground in the forest between school and home, and spring was so bright and beautiful, the warm air touched her so tenderly, she could almost feel herself changing into a flower. Her light dress felt like petals. "I love everything," she heard herself say. "So do I," a voice answered. Pearl straightened up and looked around. No one was there.

How deeply one felt when alone.

People are no damn good.

And they lived horribly ever after, scaring the socks off all who fell afoul of them.

He was able to love them again, but he loved them now in a wiser way, knowing their weakness.

The world was all magic, and he had a special bottle of it in his right hand.

How did the world ever manage without me before I was born?' he wondered. 'Didn't they feel something was missing?

Otchky-potchky, itchky-pitch, Pay attention to this witch. A donkey takes you to a knight -- Him you conquer in a fight. Then you wed a princess who Is even uglier than you. Ha ha ha and cockadoodle, The magic words are 'Apple Strudel

I wish I were a rock,' he said, and he became a rock.

His mother was ugly and his father was ugly, but Shrek was uglier than the two of them put together. By the time he toddled, Shrek could spit flame a full ninety-nine yards and vent smoke from either ear.

Why had he wanted to be rich, or to feel rich? Was he an unhappy mouse before? Didn't he see the King himself often looking sad? Was anyone completely happy?

Why did the world go on being so beautiful in spite of the ugliness he had experienced? The lake was beautiful, serenely beautiful. The forest was beautiful, greenly beautiful. Lake and forest, the whole shimmering world was painfully beautiful. He loved this world, but he was too hurt to enjoy it.

The damp occupants of the cave stood close together in the vaulted entrance like actors who had played their parts and could now watch the rest of the show from the wings.

Abel also kept busy taking it easy. Only when taking it easy, he'd learned, could one properly do one's wondering.

The stubbornness of his character stood him now in good stead. He refused to consider himself defeated.

Rain caused one to reflect on the shadowed, more poignant parts of life—the inescapable sorrows, the speechless longings, the disappointments, the regrets, the cold miseries. It also allowed one the leisure to ponder questions unasked in the bustle of brighter days; and if one were snug under a sound roof, as Abel was, one felt somehow mothered, though mothers were nowhere around, and absolved of responsibilities.

Life was...sad. And yet it was beautiful. The beauty was dimmed when the sadness welled up. And the beauty would be there again when the sadness went. So the beauty and the sadness belonged together somehow, though they were not the same at all.

T]he conviction grew in him that the earth and the sky knew he was there and also felt friendly; so he was not really alone, and not really entirely lonely.

He began to develop an obstinate patience.

Never had he been subjected to such rude treatment. How long could it last? How long, he wondered, could he abide it?

Abel talked about Amanda, about her poetry, her grace, her tendency to dream. He speculated on why her movements, her gestures, her voice, her way of dressing, were so much more charming and heart-winning than those of any other female mouse he had ever known, including his own dear mother and favorite sister. It puzzled him. "It's the magic of love," burped Gower.

I think I feel a little differently than other people do. For some reason I've never felt grown up.