Richard Adams Quotes & Sayings

Some say that the Black Rabbit hates us and wants our destruction. But the truth is - or so they taught me - that he, too, serves Lord Frith and does no more than his appointed task — Richard Adams

Dangerous thing, a name. Someone might catch hold of you by it, mightn't they? — Richard Adams

Now Bigwig's put their backs up, and they'll think they've got to go on because he makes them. I want them to go on because they can see it's the only thing to do. — Richard Adams

I don't like straight lines: men make them. — Richard Adams

What is, is what must be. — Richard Adams

How do they find out with the experiments?'
' ... one way they can find out a whole lot is to make an animal ill and then try different ways to make it better until they find one that works.'
'But isn't that unkind to the animal?'
'Well, I suppose it is ... but I mean, there isn't a dad anywhere who would hesitate, is there, if he knew it was going to make [his child] better? It's changed the whole world during the last hundred years, and that's no exaggeration. — Richard Adams

At that moment, in the sunset on Watership Down, there was offered to General Woundwort the opportunity to show whether he was really the leader of vision and genius which he believed himself to be, or whether he was no more than a tyrant with the courage and cunning of a pirate. For one beat of his pulse the lame rabbit's idea shone clearly before him. He grasped it and realized what it meant. The next, he had pushed it away from him. — Richard Adams

As a traveller in some far wilderness might by chance pick up a handful of stones from the ground, examine them idly and then, with mounting excitement, first surmise, next think it probable and finally feel certain that they must be diamonds; or as a sea-captain, voyaging in distant waters, might round an unknown cape, busy himself for an hour with the handling of the ship and only then, and gradually, realize that he - he himself - must have sailed into none other than that undiscovered, fabled ocean known to his forbears by nothing but legend and rumour; so now, little by little, there stole upon this hunter the stupefying, all-but-incredible knowledge of what it must be that he had seen. — Richard Adams

He fought because he actually felt safer fighting than running. — Richard Adams

Those are rabbits down there, trotting along like a lot of squirrels with nuts. How can that be right? — Richard Adams

Wisdom is found on the desolate hillside ... where none comes to feed, and the stony bank where the rabbit scratches a hole in vain. — Richard Adams

Alighted near Hazel and Fiver. "How's Holly?" asked Hazel. "'E sad," said Kehaar. "'E say you no come back." Then he added, "Mees Clover, she ready for mudder." "That's good," said Hazel. "Is anyone doing anything about it?" "Ya, ya, ees all to fight." "Oh, well, I suppose it'll sort itself out. — Richard Adams

There is nothing that cuts you down to size like coming to some strange and marvelous place where no one even stops to notice that you stare about you. — Richard Adams

When they got there, the first thing they saw was the man himself, with a white stick burning away in his mouth, cutting row after row of frosted cabbages. Rowsby Woof was with him, wagging his tail and jumping about in a ridiculous manner. After — Richard Adams

People who record birdsong generally do it very early
before six o'clock
if they can. Soon after that, the invasion of distant noise in most woodland becomes too constant and too loud. — Richard Adams

Well,' replied Tony, 'I think [Christ's] line would be the same as it always has been - that [sex without marriage] is understandable and forgivable, but wrong to the extent that it's less than the best. — Richard Adams

What is this stuff, do you know?" he asked. "No, I don't," said Hazel. "I've never seen it before." "There's a lot we don't know," said Blackberry. "About this place, I mean. The plants are new, the smells are new. We're going to need some new ideas ourselves." "Well, you're the fellow for ideas," said Hazel. "I never know anything until you tell me. — Richard Adams

To be dead may be nothing, yet who relishes the business of dying? — Richard Adams

Rabbits live close to death and when death comes closer than usual, thinking about survival leaves little room for anything else. — Richard Adams

I'd rather succeed in doing what we can than fail to do what we can't. — Richard Adams

Racing through the ocher light, Bigwig was impelled by a frenzy of tension and energy. He did not feel the wound in his shoulder. The storm was his own. The storm would defeat Efrafa. — Richard Adams

Sheep used to have wings. One flew into the sky and all the others followed. They took their wings off while feeding in the warm sun but the wind blew away their wings so they couldn't fly anymore. They had to return to earth by drifting to where the sky curves down and touches the land, and then walk round the long way.. i like that.. — Richard Adams

I am sorry for you with all my heart. But you cannot blame us, for you came to kill us if you could. — Richard Adams

And from that day to this, no power on earth can keep a rabbit out of a vegetable garden, for El-ahrairah prompts them with a thousand tricks, the best in the world. — Richard Adams

When several creatures, men or animals, have worked together to overcome something offering resistance and have at last succeeded, there follows often a pause, as though they felt the propriety of paying respect to the adversary who has put up so good a fight. The great tree falls, splitting, cracking, rushing down in leaves to the final, shuddering blow along the ground. Then the foresters are silent, and do not at once sit down. After hours, the deep snowdrift has been cleared and the lorry is ready to take the men home out of the cold. But they stand a while, leaning on their spades and only nodding unsmilingly as the car-drivers go through, waving their thanks. — Richard Adams

I dare say a good many ... would have kept quiet and thought about keeping on the right side of the Chief, but I'm afraid I'm not much good at that. — Richard Adams

Mixed with the resinous scent of the firs there came another smell, strong and fragrant, yet sharp - the perfume of flowers, but of some kind unknown to Hazel. He followed it to its source at the edge of the wood. It came from several thick patches of soapwort growing along the edge of the pasture. Some of the plants were not yet in bloom, their buds curled in pink, pointed spirals held in the pale green calices, but most were already star-flowering and giving off their strong scent. The bats were hunting among the flies and moths attracted to the soapwort. — Richard Adams

Animals don't behave like men,' he said. 'If they have to fight, they fight; and if they have to kill they kill. But they don't sit down and set their wits to work to devise ways of spoiling other creatures' lives and hurting them. They have dignity and animality. — Richard Adams

Bluebell: Please, sir, I'm only a little [car] and I've left all my petrol on the grass. So if you don't mind eating the grass, sir, while I give this lady a ride-
Hazel: Bluebell, shut up! — Richard Adams

Stubbs may have envisaged the skeleton inside the horse, but most of us do not — Richard Adams

Narrow lanes climb both slopes and come together in a great ring of elm trees which encircles the flat summit. Any wind
even the slightest
draws from the height of the elms a rushing sound, multifoliate and powerful. — Richard Adams

Warren life doesn't make for secrecy. — Richard Adams

He looked as though he knew how to take care of himself. There was a shrewd, buoyant air about him as he sat up, looked round and rubbed both front paws over his nose. — Richard Adams

Like the pain of a bad wound, the effect of a deep shock takes some while to be felt. When a child is told, for the first time in his life, that a person he has known is dead, although he does not disbelieve it, he may well fail to comprehend it and later ask
perhaps more than once
where the dead person is and when he is coming back. — Richard Adams

You can't call your life your own: and in return you have safety, if it's worth having at the price you pay. — Richard Adams

Hazel, watching, lent help here and there and encouraged the others. — Richard Adams

And, Freedom, was I free? — Richard Adams

We do not take moonlight for granted. It is like snow, or like dew on a July morning. It does not reveal but changes what it covers. — Richard Adams

Bigwig: "I can't think why he didn't convince Threarah."
Hazel: "Because Threarah doesn't like anything he hasn't thought of for himself. — Richard Adams

The rabbits became strange in many ways, different from other rabbits. They knew well enough what was happening. But even to themselves they pretended that all was well, for the food was good, they were protected, they had nothing to fear but the one fear; and that struck here and there, never enough at a time to drive them away.They forgot the ways of wild rabbits. They forgot El-ahrairah, for what use had they for tricks and cunning, living in the enemy's warren and paying his price? — Richard Adams

Hazel's feelings were like those which might pass through the mind of a defeated general. Where were his followers exactly? He hoped, not far away. But were they? All of them? Where had he led them? What was he going to do now? What if an enemy appeared at this moment? He had answers to none of these questions and no spirit left to force himself to think about them. Behind him, Pipkin shivered in the damp, and he turned and nuzzled him - much as the general, with nothing left to do, might fall to considering the welfare of his servant, simply because the servant happened to be there. — Richard Adams

Rabbit underground, rabbit safe and sound. — Richard Adams

No, no- the sky will grow dark, cold rain will fall and all trace of the right way will be blotted out. You will be all alone. And still you will have to go on. There will be ghosts in the dark and voices in the air, disgusting prophecies coming true I wouldn't wonder and absent faces present on every side, as the man said. And still you will have to go on. The last bridge will fall behind you and the last lights will go out, followed by the sun, the moon and the stars; and still you will have to go on. You will come to regions more desolate and wretched than you ever dreamed could exist, places of sorrow created entirely by that mean superstition which you yourself have put about for so long. But still you will have to go on — Richard Adams

He reached the top of the bank in a single, powerful leap. Hazel followed; and together they slipped away, running easily down through the wood, where the first primroses were beginning to bloom. — Richard Adams

We all have to meet our match sometime or other. — Richard Adams

Sooner or later, everyone has to meet his match. — Richard Adams

My Chief Rabbit has told me to stay and defend this run, and until he says otherwise, I shall stay here.
Bigwig — Richard Adams

A quick run past the rabbits' execution shed, a turn around the kittens' quicklime pit, a moment's hesitation beyond the monkeys' gas-chamber
and they are gone: ay, not so long ago these canines fled away into the storm. It would be pleasant to report that that night Dr. Boycott dreamt of many a woe, and all his whitecoat-men with shade and form of witch and demon and large coffin-worm were long be-nightmared. One might even have hoped to add that Tyson the old died palsy-twitched, with meagre face deform. But in fact
as will be seen
none of these things happened. Slowly the rain ceased, the grey rack blowing away and over Windermere as first light came creeping into the sky and the remaining inmates of Lawson Park woke to another day in the care and service of humanity. — Richard Adams

If you want to bless me you can bless my bottom, for it is sticking out of the hole. — Richard Adams

A land In which it seemed always afternoon. All round the coast the languid air did swoon, — Richard Adams

There's terrible evil in the world."
It comes from men," said Holly. "All other elil do what they have to do and Frith moves them as he moves us. They live on the earth and they need food. Men will never rest till they've spoiled the earth and destroyed the animals. — Richard Adams

It's the place that worries you," said Hazel. "I don't like it myself, but it won't go on forever. — Richard Adams

Hoi, hoi u embleer hrair! M'saion ule' hraka vair! — Richard Adams

Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it. — Richard Adams

But he - he hated pity as a cat hates water. — Richard Adams

I'm sick and tired of it," he said, "It's the same all the time. 'These are my claws, so this is my cowslip." 'These are my teeth, so this is my burrow.' I'll tell you, if I ever get into the Owsla, I'll treat outskirters with a bit of decency. — Richard Adams

Once the moon gets to be full somebody - some man or other - goes up every day and slices bits of one side until there isn't any more,and then after a bit a new one grows. Men do that with all sorts of things, actually - rose bushes for instance.... The man who slices the bits off brings them down here and then they're used for making those lights on the cars. Clever isn't it... They only last about one night, I should think, because you hardly ever see them shining by day. — Richard Adams

I should hurry, then, if I were you," said Blackberry. "The sun will be down soon." "Hah!" said Bigwig. "If I meet a stoat, it'd better look out, that's all. I'll bring you one back tomorrow, shall I? — Richard Adams

Who wants to hear about brave deeds when he's ashamed of his own, and who likes an open, honest tale from someone he's deceiving? — Richard Adams

I distinguish two types of human beings, Love people, who love the sky and the flowers, and Power People, who are essentially sold on naked power. — Richard Adams

Carrying money, food and the seal ring of Bel-ka-Trazet, set out alone for Lak. BOOK VI — Richard Adams

Watership Down is a real place, like all the places in the book. It lies in north Hampshire, about six miles southwest of Newbury and two miles west of Kingsclere. — Richard Adams

The primroses were over. — Richard Adams

Why do the men come, do you suppose?" asked Fiver. "Who knows why men do anything? They may drive cows or sheep in the fields, or cut wood in the copses. What does it matter? I'd rather dodge a man than a stoat or a fox. — Richard Adams

The rabbits mingled naturally. They did not talk for talking's sake, in the artificial manner that human beings - and sometimes even their dogs and cats - do. But this did not mean that they were not communicating; merely that they were not communicating by talking. — Richard Adams

To come to the end of a time of anxiety and fear! To feel the cloud that hung over us lift and disperse - that cloud that dulled the heart and made happiness no more than a memory! This at least is one joy that must have been known by almost every living creature. — Richard Adams

The radical novelty of modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief, which is at the heart of all popular religion, that the forces which move the stars and atoms are contingent upon the preferences of the human heart. — Richard Adams

Black Rabbit: Hazel ... Hazel ... you know me, don't you?
Hazel: I don't know.
[the apparition reveals himself to be the Black Rabbit, and Hazel gasps]
Hazel: Yes, my lord. I know you.
Black Rabbit: I've come to ask if you'd like to join my Owsla. We shall be glad to have you, and I know you'd like it. You've been feeling tired, haven't you? If you're ready, we might go along now.
[Hazel looks at all the younger rabbits of Watership Down]
Black Rabbit: You needn't worry about them. They'll be all right, and thousands like them. If you come along now, I'll show you what I mean. — Richard Adams

Our children's children will hear a good story. — Richard Adams

I dislike this whole business of experimentation on animals, unless there's some very good and altogether exceptional reason to this very case. The thing that gets me is that it's not possible for the animals to understand why they are being called upon to suffer. They don't suffer for their own good or benefit at all, and I often wonder how far it's for anyone's. They're given no choice, and there is no central authority responsible for deciding whether what's done is morally justifiable. These experiment animals are just sentient objects; they're useful because they are able to react; sometimes precisely because they're able to feel fear and pain. And they're used as if they were electric light bulbs or boots. What it comes to is that whereas there used to be human and animal slaves, now there are just animal slaves. They have no legal rights or choices in the matter. — Richard Adams

One cloud feels lonely. — Richard Adams

Be cunning, and full of tricks, and your people will never be destroyed. — Richard Adams

Rabbits need dignity and, above all, the will to accept their fate. — Richard Adams

Rabbits (says Mr. Lockley) are like human beings in many ways. One of these is certainly their staunch ability to withstand disaster and to let the stream of their life carry them along, past reaches of terror and loss. They have a certain quality which it would not be accurate to describe as callousness or indifference. It is, rather, a blessedly circumscribed imagination and an intuitive feeling that Life is Now. A foraging wild creature, intent above all upon survival, is as strong as the grass. — Richard Adams

Lots of little Bigwigs, Hazel! Think of that, and tremble! — Richard Adams

You may think it's a wonderful thing to be saved by Lord Frith in his power. How many rabbits has that happened to, I wonder? But I tell you, it was far more frightening than being chased by the Efrafans. — Richard Adams

For that matter, Odysseus himself might have borrowed a trick or two from the rabbit hero, for he is very old and was never at a loss for a trick to deceive his enemies. — Richard Adams

I don't know where ideas come from. They come from outer space or God, if you like, or from my subconscious mind. But I never go ou self-consciously looking for a story. — Richard Adams

They want to be natural, the anti-social little beasts. They just don't realize that everyone's good depends on everyone's cooperation. — Richard Adams

Silflay hraka, u embleer rah," replied Bigwig. — Richard Adams

Why, all of you," answered the other, surprised. "You don't want to stay out in the rain, do you? — Richard Adams

beetle-spirited vaporing — Richard Adams

We are all human and fall short of where we need to be. We must never stop trying to be the best we can be. — Richard Adams

Who knows why men do anything? — Richard Adams

I know. And we have no does
not one
and no does means no kittens and in a few years no warren.
It may seem incredible that the rabbits had given no thought to so vital a matter. But men have made the same mistake more than once
left the whole business out of account, or been content to trust to luck and the fortune of war. — Richard Adams

Human beings say, "It never rains but it pours." This is not very apt, for it frequently does rain without pouring. The rabbits' proverb is better expressed. They say, "One cloud feels lonely": and indeed it is true that the sky will soon be overcast. — Richard Adams

Rain before sunset and we'll be in shelter. — Richard Adams

If a rabbit gave advice and the advice wasn't accepted, he immediately forgot it, and so did everyone else. — Richard Adams

Captain," said Bluebell, "do you know what the first blade of grass said to the second blade of grass?" Hazel looked at him sharply, but Holly replied, "Well?" "It said, 'Look, there's a rabbit! We're in danger! — Richard Adams

And at once he went on with his burden, as though afraid that he might already have said too much in this country where the past was sharp splinters embedded in men's minds and an ill-judged word a false step in the dark. — Richard Adams

Now, Rowsby Woof was the man's dog; and he was the most objectionable, malicious, disgusting brute that ever licked a man's hand. He — Richard Adams

Why do the men come, do you suppose?" "Who knows why men do anything? — Richard Adams

Most of them had not understood Blackberry's discovery of the raft and at once forgot it. — Richard Adams

A rabbit sneeze on the morning breeze sets homesick hearts aglow sitting with his rumps in a chicory clump and longing for a nice plump doe. — Richard Adams

I certainly think that 10 to 20 years from now, clearly the majority of veterinarians will be women. — Richard Adams

Underground, the story continued. — Richard Adams

even a small warren. This one had — Richard Adams

Although there was no enemy or danger to be perceived, they felt the apprehension and doubt of those who have come unaware upon some awe-inspiring place where they themselves are paltry fellows of no account. — Richard Adams

But I have learned that with creatures one loves, suffering is not the only thing for which one may pity them. A rabbit who does not know when a gift has made him safe is poorer than a slug, even though he may think otherwise himself. — Richard Adams

A magpie, seeing some light-colored object conspicuous on the empty slope, flew closer to look. but all that lay there was a splintered peg and a twisted length of wire. — Richard Adams