The British novelist Roald Dahl is known for being one of the world’s greatest storytellers.
He wrote 20 children’s books, including classic titles like James and the Giant Peach, the BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Matilda, just to name a few.
Dahl also spent a great deal of time writing adult fiction too. He wrote numerous short stories strictly for grown-ups, including the ever-popular “Tales of the Unexpected.” He also penned the surprisingly raunchy and utterly hilarious novel My Uncle Oswald (an absolute must-read). He had a remarkable ability to captivate audiences young and old.
Roald Dahl’s stories are characterized by his boundless imagination and refreshingly childlike way of viewing the world. He believed in the power of dreams and that anything is possible if you put your heart and soul into it.
His quotes are packed full of life lessons that remind us that the world is a beautiful, miraculous place full of wonder and surprises. All we have to do is “simply look around and view it”.
So without further ado, here are 50 of my favorite Roald Dahl quotes for your reading pleasure.
Best Roald Dahl Quotes
“‘The matter with human beans,’ the BFG went on, ‘is that they is absolutely refusing to believe anything unless they is actually seeing it right in front of their own schnozzles.'”
-The BFG
“There are a whole lot of things in this world of ours you haven’t started wondering about yet.”
-James and the Giant Peach
“I’m afraid men are not always quite as clever as they think they are. You will learn that when you get a bit older, my girl.”
-Matilda
“The witching hour, somebody had once whispered to her, was a special moment in the middle of the night when every child and every grown-up was in a deep deep sleep, and all the dark things came out from hiding and had the world all to themselves.”
-The BFG
“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“If you are good, life is good.”
-Matilda
“Well, maybe it started that way. As a dream, but doesn’t everything. Those buildings. These lights. This whole city. Somebody had to dream about it first. And maybe that is what I did. I dreamed about coming here, but then I did it.”
-James and the Giant Peach
“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall. Then fill the shelves with lots of books.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“I understand what you’re saying, and your comments are valuable, but I’m gonna ignore your advice.”
-Fantastic Mr. Fox
“A little magic can take you a long way.”
-James and the Giant Peach
“Most of the really exciting things we do in our lives scare us to death. They wouldn’t be exciting if they didn’t.”
-Danny, The Champion of the World
“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it, and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.”
-My Uncle Oswald
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.”
-The Witches
“I’m right and you’re wrong, I’m big and you’re small, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
-Matilda
“You should never, never doubt something that no one is sure of.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“Nothing is any fun if you can get as much of it as you want. Especially money.”
-The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More
“Grown ups are complicated creatures, full of quirks and secrets.”
-Danny, The Champion of the World
“A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.”
-Boy: Tales of Childhood
“Life is more fun if you play games.”
-My Uncle Oswald
“A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men.”
-Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
“Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.”
-Roald Dahl
“Two rights don’t equal a left.”
-The BFG
“Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world”
-Matilda
“If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.”
-Roald Dahl
“Don’t gobblefunk around with words.”
-The BFG
Mr. Wonka: “Don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted.”
Charlie Bucket: “What happened?”
Mr. Wonka: “He lived happily ever after.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“All the reading she had done had given her a view of life that they had never seen. If only they would read a little Dickens or Kipling they would soon discover there was more to life than cheating people and watching television.”
-Matilda
“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
-The Minipins
“Children are not so serious as grown-ups and they love to laugh.”
-Matilda
“The human brain is an amazing thing.”
-Matilda
“Nowadays you can go anywhere in the world in a few hours, and nothing is fabulous anymore.”
-Boy: Tales of Childhood
“I don’t want a grown-up person at all. A grown-up won’t listen to me; he won’t learn. He will try to do things his own way and not mine. So I have to have a child. I want a good sensible loving child, one to whom I can tell all my most precious candy-making secrets-while I am still alive.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.”
-Matilda
“Because we are all a great deal luckier than we realize, we usually get what we want—or near enough.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“I think I have this thing where everybody has to think I’m the greatest. And if they aren’t completely knocked out and dazzled and slightly intimidated by me, I don’t feel good about myself.”
-Fantastic Mr. Fox
“Whipped cream isn’t whipped cream at all if it hasn’t been whipped with whips, just like poached eggs isn’t poached eggs unless it’s been stolen in the dead of the night.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“Parents never underestimated the abilities of their own children. Quite the reverse. Sometimes it was well nigh impossible for a teacher to convince the proud father or mother that their beloved offspring was a complete nitwit.”
-Matilda
“Everything in this room is edible. Even I’m edible. But, that would be called cannibalism. It is looked down upon in most societies.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“There is little point in teaching anything backwards. The whole object of life, Headmistress, is to go forwards.”
-Matilda
“However small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance was there.”
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“Don’t worry about the bits you can’t understand. Sit back and allow the words to wash around you, like music.”
-Matilda
“Two hours of writing fiction leaves this writer completely drained. For those two hours he has been in a different place with totally different people.”
-Roald Dahl
“Let your love out.”
-The BFG
“I cannot for the life of me understand why small children take so long to grow up. I think they do it deliberately, just to annoy me.”
-Matilda
“My candle burns at both ends it will not last the night but arh my friends and oh my foes it gives a lovely light.”
-Boy: Tales of Childhood
“Do any of us children, she wondered, ever stop to ask ourselves where our teachers go when school is over for the day? Do we wonder if they live alone, or if there is a mother at home or a sister or a husband?”
-Matilda
“When you grow up and have children of your own, do please remember something important: A stodgy parent is not fun at all! What a child wants—and DESERVES—is a parent who is SPARKY!”
-Roald Dahl
“Kindness – that simple word. To be kind – it covers everything, to my mind. If you’re kind that’s it.”
-Roald Dahl
“I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile because it’s impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren’t feeling twinkly yourself. A mouth-smile is different. You can fake a mouth-smile any time you want, simply by moving your lips. I’ve also learned that a real mouth-smile always has an eye-smile to go with it. So watch out, I say, when someone smiles at you but his eyes stay the same. It’s sure to be a phony.”
-Danny the Champion of the World
“Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog.”
-Matilda
“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”
-The Twits
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these fantastic Roald Dahl quotes. His words remind us to embrace our inner child, tap into our imaginations, and never take life too seriously.
Which is your favorite Roald Dahl quote? Let us know in the comments below!
Check out these other great articles:
- 45 Inspiring Charles Dickens Quotes
- 40 Emily Dickinson Quotes on Life, Hope & Inspiration
- 40 Inspiring Nelson Mandela Quotes
- 40 Powerful Sun Tzu Quotes
- 35 Classic Thomas Jefferson Quotes
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