Dahl Quotes & Sayings

The only meals they could afford were bread and margarine for breakfast, boiled potatoes and cabbage for lunch, and cabbage soup for supper. — Roald Dahl

The life of a writer is absolute hell compared to the life of a businessman. — Roald Dahl

I am totally convinced that most grown-ups have completely forgotten what is it like to be a child between the ages of five and then ... I can remember exactly what it was like. I am certain I can. — Roald Dahl

There is something about very cold weather that gives one an enormous appetite. Most of us find ourselves beginning to crave rich steaming stews and hot apple pies and all kinds of delicious warming dishes; and because we are all a great deal luckier than we realize, we usually get what we want - or near enough. — Roald Dahl

She noticed immediately that they were now in an altogether paler country. The sun had disappeared above a film of vapour. The air was becoming cooler every minute. The land was flat and treeless and there seemed to be no colour in it at all. Every minute, the mist became thicker. The air became colder still and everything became paler and paler until soon there was nothing but grey and white all around them. They were in a country of swirling mists and ghostly vapours. There was some sort of grass underfoot but it was not green. It was ashy grey. — Roald Dahl

When I was 2, we moved into an imposing country mansion 8 miles west of Cardiff, Wales. — Roald Dahl

An idiotic vitch like you
Must rrroast upon the barbecue! — Roald Dahl

It was pleasant to take a hot drink up to her room and have it beside her as she sat in her silent room reading in the empty house in the afternoons. The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives. — Roald Dahl

There is little point in teaching anything backwards. The whole object of life, Headmistress, is to go forwards. — Roald Dahl

Badger: The cuss you are.
Mr. Fox: The cuss am I? Are you cussing with me? — Roald Dahl

A writer of fiction lives in fear. Each new day demands new ideas and he can never be sure whether he is going to come up with them or not. — Roald Dahl

You may know more about vintage wine than the wine steward, but if you're smart you'll let your man do the choosing and be ecstatic over his selection, even if it tastes like shampoo. — Arlene Dahl

My father was a Norwegian who came from a small town near Oslo. He broke his arm at the elbow when he was 14, and they amputated it. — Roald Dahl

What sort of a book would you like to read next? she asked. — Roald Dahl

Frobscottle is sweet and jumbly! — Roald Dahl

And don't worry about the bits you can't understand. Sit back and allow the words to wash around you, like music. — Roald Dahl

See pills of every shape and size, Such fascinating colors, too - Some green, some pink, some brown, some blue. 'All right,' she says, 'let's try the brown.' She takes one pill and gulps it down. 'Yum-yum!' she cries. 'Hooray! What fun! They're chocolate-coated, every one!' She gobbles five, she gobbles ten, She stops her gobbling only when The last pill's gone. There are no more. Slowly she rises from the floor. She stops. She hiccups. Dear, oh dear, She starts to feel a trifle queer. You see, how could young Goldie know, For nobody had told her so, That Grandmama, her old relation Suffered from frightful constipation. This — Roald Dahl

The adult is the enemy of the child because of the awful process of civilizing this thing that, when it is born, is an animal with no manners, no moral sense at all. — Roald Dahl

Twenty-four feet is puddlenuts in Giant Country. — Roald Dahl

And occasionally a sweet chestnut. Miss Honey, wishing to change the subject for the moment, gave the names of all these to Matilda and taught her how to recognize them by the shape of their leaves and the pattern of the bark on their trunks. Matilda took all this — Roald Dahl

The circle of salt's potential victims grew at an alarming rate. Part of Dahl's research into the evils of salt involved breeding a strain of salt-sensitive rats, in which he induced hypertension by feeding them commercially prepared baby food that contained added sodium. In April 1970, newspapers ran an Associated Press report about Dahl's findings under scary headlines like "Baby Food Salt May Be Harmful, Researcher Says." The report quoted Dahl calling salted baby food "a needless kind of risk. — Alan Levinovitz

The Bristol Channel was always my guide, and I was always able to draw an imaginary line from my bed to our house over in Wales. It was a great comfort. — Roald Dahl

Then suddenly, he was struck by a powerful but simple little truth, and it was this: that English grammar is governed by rules that are almost mathematical in their strictness! — Roald Dahl

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

Me is the only one what won't be gobbled up because giants is never eating giants — Roald Dahl

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. — Roald Dahl

By sticking out his tongue and curling it sideways to explore the hairy jungle around his mouth, he was always able to find a tasty morsel here and there to nibble on. — Roald Dahl

Never grow up...always down. — Roald Dahl

A newt, she decided, was a useful thing to have around. — Roald Dahl

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. — Roald Dahl

Poor Earthworm,' the Ladybird said, whispering in James's ear. 'He loves to make everything into a disaster. He hates to be happy. He is only happy when he is gloomy. — Roald Dahl

Yes, she was imperfect. But that didn't mean she wasn't also spectacular. — Victoria Dahl

There's no earthly way of knowing Which direction they are going! There's no knowing where they're rowing, Or which way the river's flowing! Not a speck of light is showing, So the danger must be growing, For the rowers keep on rowing, And they're certainly not showing Any signs that they are slowing. . . . — Roald Dahl

I wouldn't yell 'fire' at that slimeball if his ass was in flames. — Victoria Dahl

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. — Roald Dahl

Of course they're real people. They're Oompa-Loompas ... Imported direct from Loompaland ... And oh what a terrible country it is! Nothing but thick jungles infested by the most dangerous beasts in the world - hornswogglers and snozzwangers and those terrible wicked whangdoodles. A whangdoodle would eat ten Oompa-Loompas for breakfast and come galloping back for a second helping. — Roald Dahl

Occasionally one comes across parents who take the opposite line, who show no interest at all in their children, and these of course are far worse than the doting ones. — Roald Dahl

Mr. Twit was a twit. He was born a twit. And, now at the age of sixty, he was a bigger twit than ever. — Roald Dahl

A message To the children who have read this book. When you grow up and have children of your own, do please remember something important. A stodgy parent is no fun at all! What a child wants -and DESERVES- is a parent who is SPARKY! - Danny, the champion of the world. — Roald Dahl

Now What?" Kerensky said. "We wait," Dahl said. "For how long?" Kerensky said, " As long as dramatically appropriate," Dahl said. — John Scalzi

A whizzpopper!" cried the BFG, beaming at her. "Us giants is making whizzpoppers all the time! Whizzpopping is a sign of happiness. It is music in our ears! You surely is not telling me that a little whizzpopping if forbidden among human beans? — Roald Dahl

I go down to my little hut, where it's tight and dark and warm, and within minutes I can go back to being six or seven or eight again. — Roald Dahl

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. — Roald Dahl

I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage. — Roald Dahl

The more risks you allow children to take, the better they learn to take care of themselves. If you never let them take any risks, then I believe they become very prone to injury. Boys should be allowed to climb tall trees and walk along the tops of high walls and dive into the sea from high rocks ... The same with girls. I like the type of child who takes risks. Better by far than the one who never does so. — Roald Dahl

With enthusiasm anything is possible, — Arlene Dahl

This place we're flying over now isn't in the atlas, is it?' the pilot said, grinning. 'You're darn right it isn't in the atlas!' cried the Head of the Air Force. 'We've flown clear off the last page! — Roald Dahl

I think I'd better plead the fifth."
"Isn't that an admission of guilt, Detective?"
"Legally, it's a neutral position."
"Oh, but it's morally damning, isn't it?"
"Morally?" His deep brown eyes sparkled and the weight in Tessa's belly melted all over her insides. "Oh, yeah," he said softly. "Morally, it's a big problem. — Victoria Dahl

There are many things that make a man irritable when he arrives home from work in the evening and a sensible wife will usually notice the storm-signals and will leave him alone until he simmers down. — Roald Dahl

Men were foolish and were made only so that they should die, while mountains and rivers went on for ever and did not notice the passing of time. — Roald Dahl

Some children are spoiled and it is not their fault, it is their parents. — Roald Dahl

I love Roald Dahl. — Tyra Banks

What's happened? screamed Mrs. Twit. They stood in the middle of the room, looking up. All the furniture, the big table, the chairs, the sofa, the lamps, the little side tables, the cabinet with bottles of beer in it, the ornaments, the electric heater, the carpet, everything was stuck upside down to the ceiling. The pictures were upside down on the walls. And the floor they were standing on was absolutely bare. What's more, it had been painted white to look like the ceiling. — Roald Dahl

Pear Drops were exciting because they had a dangerous taste. All of us were warned against eating them, and the result was that we ate them more than ever. — Roald Dahl

By the time I got to college I had stopped reading books because I wanted to "be cool" and started reading books simply because I wanted to read them. I discovered heroes like Roth, King, Dahl, Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, TC Boyle, Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, David Sedaris. These people weren't trying to "rebel against the literary establishment." They were trying to write great, high-quality books that were as entertaining and moving as possible. — Simon Rich

This Giant had some sort of magic in his legs. — Roald Dahl

*Life is a series of thousands of tiny miracles. Notice them.
*No book ever ends when it's full of friends. — Roald Dahl

When you're writing a book, with people in it as opposed to animals, it is no good having people who are ordinary, because they are not going to interest your readers at all. Every writer in the world has to use the characters that have something interesting about them, and this is even more true in children's books. — Roald Dahl

I've always liked the classic "young adult" writers like Mark Twain, Jack London, Roald Dahl, Charles Dickens. They write so clearly, and they know how to entertain. — Arthur Bradford

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

Did they preach one thing and practice another, these men of God? — Roald Dahl

Most of us readily take things for granted that at an earlier time remained to be discovered. — Robert A. Dahl

My first favourite book was 'Are You My Mother?' A picture book about a lost bird. After that my favourites changed almost yearly. I loved everything by Roald Dahl, but my favourite was probably 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' A librarian gave me a first edition of that book, which I treasure. — Rick Yancey

When you're writing a book, it's rather like going on a very long walk, across valleys and mountains and things, and you get the first view of what you see and you write it down. Then you walk a bit further, maybe up onto the top of a hill, and you see something else. Then you write that and you go on like that, day after day, getting different views of the same landscape really. The highest mountain on the walk is obviously the end of the book, because it's got to be the best view of all, when everything comes together and you can look back and see that everything you've done all ties up. But it's a very, very long, slow process. — Roald Dahl

And when I protested a bit more, I remember he said, 'My dear Lady Ponsonby, there's nothing immoral about this. Art is only immoral when practiced by amateurs. It's the same with medicine. You wouldn't refuse to undress before your doctor, would you? — Roald Dahl

Grown ups are complicated creatures, full of quirks and secrets. — Roald Dahl

You mean you live down here?' Matilda asked.
'I do', Miss Honey replied, but she said no more.
Matilda had never once stopped to think about where Miss Honey might be living. She had always regarded her purely as a teacher, a person who turned up out of nowhere and taught at school and then went away again. — Roald Dahl

By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good writing is essentially rewriting. I am positive of this. — Roald Dahl

There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be. — Roald Dahl

Require ... electoral votes to be allocated in proportion to the popular votes. — Robert A. Dahl

Words," he said, "is oh such a twitch-tickling problem to me all my life. — Roald Dahl

I loved reading Roald Dahl when I was young but I had forgotten a lot about the books. I read the 'BFG' on the iPad the other day and it was so interesting to see his descriptions of clothes and places. — Frank Lampard

So ... you like her, Gabe?' Lauren pressed.
'Yes,' he answered, starting work on his spreadsheet again in an effort to stave off more questions.
'She's great, isn't she?'
Shit. A smile tugged at his mouth and Lauren was standing right next to him. No question she could see it. He tried to cover himself by changing the subject. — Victoria Dahl

Their skin hung loose over their bodies like suits they had inherited from larger ancestors, with the trousers ridiculously baggy. — Roald Dahl

Thank goodness we don'y meet many people like [Miss Trunchbull] in this world, although they do exist and all of us are likely to come across at least one of them in a lifetime. If you ever do, you should behave as you would if you met an enraged rhinoceros out in the bush
climb up the nearest tree and stay there until it has gone away. — Roald Dahl

I never get any protests from children. All you get are giggles of mirth and squirms of delight. I know what children like. — Roald Dahl

My earliest, most impactful encounter with a book was when I was seven and awoke early on Christmas morning to find Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' in my stocking. I had never been so excited by the sight of a book - and have possibly never been since! — Sophie Kinsella

An autobiography is a book a person writes about his own life and it is usually full of all sorts of boring details. — Roald Dahl

EATABLE MARSHMALLOW PILLOWS
LICKABLE WALLPAPER FOR NURSERIES
HOT ICE CREAMS FOR COLD DAYS
COWS THAT GIVE CHOCOLATE MILK
FIZZY LIFTING DRINKS
SQUARE SWEETS THAT LOOK ROUND — Roald Dahl

If I had my way, I would remove January from the calendar altogether and have an extra July instead. — Roald Dahl

Hey!' Bruno called out 'Give me the rest of that banana I was eating. — Roald Dahl

Sometimes it was funny - the passion he put into each new phase. — Jonathan Kellerman

Here it is,' Nigel said.
Mrs D, Mrs I, Mrs FFI, Mrs C, Mrs U, Mrs LTY. That spells difficulty.'
How perfectly ridiculous!' snorted Miss Trunchbull. 'Why are all these women married? — Roald Dahl

When Bruce Bogtrotter had eaten his way through half of the entire enormous cake, he paused for just a couple of seconds and took several deep breaths. The — Roald Dahl

All Norwegian children learn to swim when they are very young because if you can't swim it is difficult to find a place to bathe. — Roald Dahl

The writer walks out of his workroom in a daze. He wants a drink. He needs it. — Roald Dahl

Of course not. You can't have a family hanging over you like a bunch of old dead goats. No offense. — Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl worked with other illustrators, but it was only when he teamed up with Quentin Blake that the chemistry began to fizz. Quentin Blake is Britain's greatest living illustrator and has that special talent all the great illustrators have, of unobtrusive brilliance. — Chris Riddell

I began to realize how simple life could be if one had a regular routine to follow with fixed hours, a fixed salary, and very little original thinking to do. — Roald Dahl

Trance had become a dirty word. Thanks to Ian Van Dahl, Lasgo, Flip 'N' Fill and DJ Sammy, a generation of kids has grown up thinking trance is the shittiest music since country and western. — Paul Van Dyk

Sophie took the book out of his hand. 'Nicholas Nickleby,' she read aloud. 'By Dahl's Chickens,' the BFG said. 'By who?' Sophie said. — Roald Dahl

I shot down some German planes and I got shot down myself, crashing in a burst of flames and crawling out, getting rescued by brave soldiers. — Roald Dahl

What a lot of hairy-faced men there are around nowadays. — Roald Dahl

A lot of young-adult authors, great ones, have tried their hands at literary fiction, and not a lot of them have succeeded. Not even Roald Dahl could switch-hit, and not for lack of trying. — Lev Grossman

Of course not," she snapped. "I'm only thirsty. Would you play the gallant and find me a glass of lemonade?"
"I assume 'lemonade' is code for wine? — Victoria Dahl

I considered the years in Hollywood nothing but an interim. What I always wanted was to be was a musical comedy star. — Arlene Dahl

This is Mr. Bucket. This is Mrs. Bucket. Mr. and Mrs. Bucket have a small boy whose name is Charlie Bucket. — Roald Dahl

There are no strangers in here, just friends you haven't met ... — Roald Dahl

Like your sweet, affectionate house cat, Alice Dahl is easy to underestimate. It's not until the songbirds in the yard show up eviscerated on the front porch that you realize you should've kept that bell collar on her - because those poor birds never even saw her coming. — Elle Lothlorien

He should have burped," Charlie said. "Of course he should have burped," said Mr. Wonka. "I stood there shouting, 'Burp, you silly ass, burp, or you'll never come down again! But he didn't or couldn't or wouldn't, I don't know which. Maybe he was too polite. He must be on the moon by now." On the next door, it said, SQUARE CANDIES THAT LOOK ROUND. — Roald Dahl