The Quotes canon

Sourced and curated.

Every quote has been curated by hand and carefully authenticated.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Are all men in disguise except those crying? — Dannie Abse · 1986
Beauty1 quote
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. — Roald Dahl · 1980
Books1 quote
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. — Roald Dahl · 1964
Crying1 quote
Are all men in disguise except those crying? — Dannie Abse · 1986
Excitement1 quote
I will not pretend I wasn't petrified. I was. But mixed in with the awful fear was a glorious feeling of excitement. Most of the really exciting things we do in our lives scare us to death. They wouldn't be exciting if they didn't. — Roald Dahl · 1975
Fear1 quote
I will not pretend I wasn't petrified. I was. But mixed in with the awful fear was a glorious feeling of excitement. Most of the really exciting things we do in our lives scare us to death. They wouldn't be exciting if they didn't. — Roald Dahl · 1975
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like so long as somebody loves you. — Roald Dahl · 1983
Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. — Roald Dahl · 1988
Home1 quote
Homesickness is a bit like seasickness. You don’t know how awful it is till you get it, and when you do, it hits you right in the top of the stomach and you want to die. — Roald Dahl · 1984
Homesickness is a bit like seasickness. You don’t know how awful it is till you get it, and when you do, it hits you right in the top of the stomach and you want to die. — Roald Dahl · 1984
You’ll never get anywhere if you go about what-iffing like that. — Roald Dahl · 1972
Love1 quote
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like so long as somebody loves you. — Roald Dahl · 1983
Luck1 quote
But there was one other thing that the grownups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance was there. The chance had to be there. — Roald Dahl · 1964
Magic1 quote
And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. — Roald Dahl · 1990
Marriage1 quote
At its best monogamy may be the wish to find someone to die with; at its worst it is a cure for the terrors of aliveness. They are easily confused. — Adam Phillips · 1996
Are all men in disguise except those crying? — Dannie Abse · 1986
And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. — Roald Dahl · 1990
But there was one other thing that the grownups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance was there. The chance had to be there. — Roald Dahl · 1964
Secrets1 quote
And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. — Roald Dahl · 1990
TV1 quote
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. — Roald Dahl · 1964
I will not pretend I wasn't petrified. I was. But mixed in with the awful fear was a glorious feeling of excitement. Most of the really exciting things we do in our lives scare us to death. They wouldn't be exciting if they didn't. — Roald Dahl · 1975
Ugliness1 quote
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. — Roald Dahl · 1980
Are all men in disguise except those crying? — Dannie Abse · 1986