Lewis Carroll Alice In Wonderland Quotes & Sayings

For I do not believe God means us thus to divide life into half halves - to wear a grave face on Sunday, and to think it out-of-place to even so much as mention Him on a weekday. Do you think he cares to see only kneeling figures, and to hear only tones of prayer - and that He does not also love to see the lambs leaping in the sunlight, and to hear the merry voices of the children as they roll among the hay? Surely their innocent laughter is as sweet in His ears as the grandest anthem that ever rolled up from the 'dim religious light' of some solemn cathedral? — Lewis Carroll

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.
Alice: ... So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough. — Lewis Carroll

A BOAT beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July -

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear -

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream -
Lingering in the golden gleam -
Life, what is it but a dream? — Lewis Carroll

A likely story indeed!" said the Pigeon, in a tone of the deepest contempt. "I've seen a good many little girls in my time, but never one with such a neck as that! No, no! You're a serpent; and there's no use denying it. I suppose you'll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!"
"I have tasted eggs, certainly," said Alice, who was a very truthful child; "but little girls eat eggs quite as much as serpents do, you know."
"I don't believe it," said the Pigeon; "but if they do, then they're a kind of serpent: that's all I can say. — Lewis Carroll

But I was thinking of a plan
To dye one's whiskers green,
And always use so large a fan
That they could not be seen.
from The White Knights Song — Lewis Carroll

I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then. — Lewis Carroll

Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle. — Lewis Carroll

I don't like the looks of it,' said the King: 'however, it may kis my hand, if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked. — Lewis Carroll

Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, "What road do I take?"
The cat asked, "Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it really doesn't matter, does it? — Lewis Carroll

If you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison' it is certain to disagree with you sooner or later. — Lewis Carroll

Curiouser and curiouser! — Lewis Carroll

And it certainly did seem a little provoking ('almost as if it happened on purpose,' she thought) that, though she managed to pick plenty of beautiful rushes as the boat glided by, there was always a more lovely one that she couldn't reach.
"The prettiest are always further!" she said at last, with a sigh at the obstinacy of the rushes in growing so far off. — Lewis Carroll

A bottle that reads, "Drink me." A tea party, with a dormouse, a March Hare, and of course, one Mad Hatter. A red queen, with as much a fondness for tarts as for saying, "Off with their heads!" When we think of Alice and her adventures in wonderland, we often think of these amazing (and amusing) elements. Although today, your vision of Alice in Wonderland probably includes Johnny Depp and a certain visual aesthetic by Tim Burton, it's difficult not to think of the Alice stories without thinking about the food that appears within the pages of the story. — Lewis Carroll

Only the insane equate pain with success."
"The uninformed must improve their deficit, or die."
_Cheshire Cat — Lewis Carroll

I thought you did,' said the Mouse. '--I proceed. "Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable--"'

'Found WHAT?' said the Duck.

'Found IT,' the Mouse replied rather crossly: 'of course you know what "it" means.'

'I know what "it" means well enough, when I find a thing,' said the Duck: 'it 's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?'

The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, '"--found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown. William's conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his Normans--" How are you getting on now, my dear?' it continued, turning to Alice as it spoke. — Lewis Carroll

Where should I go?" -Alice. "That depends on where you want to end up." - The Cheshire Cat. — Lewis Carroll

I don't suppose there'll be a tree left standing, for ever so far around, by the time we're finished.' Tweedledum to tweedledee [They are fighting over a rattle]. Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, p. 156 — Lewis Carroll

But, I nearly forgot, you must close your eyes otherwise you won't see anything — Lewis Carroll

It's ridiculous to leave all the conversation to the pudding! — Lewis Carroll

And how do you know that you're mad? — Lewis Carroll

What do you call yourself?" the Fawn said at last. Such a soft sweet voice it had!
"I wish I knew!" thought poor Alice. She answered, rather sadly, "Nothing, just now."
"Think again," it said: "that won't do."
Alice thought, but nothing came of it. "Please, would you tell me what you call yourself?" she said timidly, "I think that might help a little."
"I'll tell you, if you'll come a little further on," the Fawn said. "I can't remember here."
So they walked on together through the wood, Alice with her arms clasped lovingly round the soft neck of the Fawn, till they came out into another open field, and here the Fawn gave a sudden bound into the air, and shook itself free from Alice's arms. "I'm a Fawn!" it cried out in a voice of delight. "And dear me, you're a human child!" A sudden look of alarm came into its beautiful brown eyes, and in another moment it had darted away at full speed. — Lewis Carroll

I'm sure I'll take you with pleasure!" the Queen said. "Twopence a week, and jam every other day."
Alice couldn't help laughing, as she said, "I don't want you to hire me - and I don't care for jam."
"It's very good jam," said the Queen.
"Well, I don't want any today, at any rate."
"You couldn't have it if you did want it," the Queen said.
"The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never today."
"It must come sometimes to 'jam today'," Alice objected.
"No it can't," said the Queen. "It's jam every other day: today isn't any other day, you know. — Lewis Carroll

Oh, don't go on like that!" cried the poor Queen, wringing her hands in despair. "Consider what a great girl you are. Consider what a long way you've come today. Consider what o'clock it is. Consider anything, only don't cry!"
Alice could not help laughing at this, even in the midst of her tears. "Can you keep from crying by considering things?" she asked.
"That's that way it's done," the Queen said with great decision: "nobody can do two things at once, you know. — Lewis Carroll

If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does. — Lewis Carroll

The human mind prefers something which it can recognize to something for which it has no name, and, whereas thousands of persons carry field glasses to bring horses, ships, or steeples close to them, only a few carry even the simplest pocket microscope. Yet a small microscope will reveal wonders a thousand times more thrilling than anything which Alice saw behind the looking-glass. — David Fairchild

Why it's simply impassible!
Alice: Why, don't you mean impossible?
Door: No, I do mean impassible. (chuckles) Nothing's impossible! — Lewis Carroll

If you think we're waxworks," he said, "you ought to pay, you know.Waxworks weren't made to be looked at for nothing. Nohow!"
"Contrariwise," added the one marked 'DEE', "if you think we're alive, you ought to speak. — Lewis Carroll

What did they live on," said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking. "They lived on treacle," said the Dormouse, after thinking a moment or two. "They couldn't have done that, you know," Alice gently remarked. "They'd have been ill." "So they were," said the Dormouse, "very ill." Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland — Carl Schmitt

It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,' says the White Queen to Alice. — Lewis Carroll

And is not that a Mother's gentle hand that undraws your curtains, and a Mother's sweet voice that summons you to rise? To rise and forget, in the bright sunlight, the ugly dreams that frightened you so when all was dark. — Lewis Carroll

Alice:How long is forever? White Rabbit:Sometimes, just one second. — Lewis Carroll

You're enough to try the patience of an oyster! — Lewis Carroll

I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it. — Lewis Carroll

I wish creatures wouldn't be so easily offended!", "You'll get used to it in time," said the Caterpillar; and it put the hookah into its mouth and began smoking again. — Lewis Carroll

I do not know if Alice in Wonderland was an original story-I was, at least, no conscious imitator in writing it-but I do know that, since it came out, something like a dozen story-books have appeared, on identically the same pattern. The path I timidly explored believing myself to be 'the first that ever burst into that silent sea'-is now a beaten high-road: all the way-side flowers have long ago been trampled into the dust: and it would be courting disaster for me to attempt that style again. — Lewis Carroll

What is the use of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversations?'
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, Ch. 1 — Lewis Carroll

Two days wrong!" sighed the Hatter. "I told you butter wouldn't suit the works!" he added, looking angrily at the March Hare. "It was the best butter," the March Hare meekly replied. — Lewis Carroll

But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat, "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here." 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll — Shweta Ganesh Kumar

I've a right to think," said Alice sharply.
"Just about as much right," said the Duchess, "as pigs have to fly."
~ Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1865 ~ — Lewis Carroll

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND Lewis Carroll THE MILLENNIUM FULCRUM EDITION 3.0 CHAPTER I Down the Rabbit-Hole Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?' So — Lewis Carroll

Alice: This is impossible.
The Mad Hatter: Only if you believe it is. — Lewis Carroll

You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are. Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland — Tara Crescent

Like a fable, Night when a Milky Way goes through the other Milky Way
My hope is standing
He walked with the speed of memories — Lewis Carroll

What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?

-Alice in Wonderland — Lewis Carroll

There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! — Lewis Carroll

This is impossible,
Only if you believe it is. — Lewis Carroll

He lifted his shirt, and on his back was the White Rabbit, wearing his waistcoat and looking at his watch. It was just like the illustration from the book. Only standing next to him, back-to-back, was another White Rabbit wearing a leather motercycle jacket and boots and smoking a cigar. — Michael Thomas Ford

Lewis Carroll. He was an odd one. Real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Completely denied having anything to do with the Alice books. Daft as a brush. You'd have liked him! — Mike Tucker

Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. — Lewis Carroll

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? — Lewis Carroll

I don't know what you mean by 'glory,'" Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't
till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"
"But glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice objected.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean
neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "Which is to be master
that's all."
Alive was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. "They've a temper, some of them
particularly, verbs, they're the proudest
adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs
however, I can manage the whole lot! Impenetrability! That's what I say! — Lewis Carroll

Speak in French when you can't think of the English for a thing
turn your toes out when you walk
And remember who you are! — Lewis Carroll

That is not said right,' said the Caterpillar.
'Not quite right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; some of the words have got altered.'
'It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar decidedly, and there was silence for some minutes. — Lewis Carroll

In most gardens", the Tiger-lily said, "they make the beds too soft-so that the flowers are always asleep. — Lewis Carroll

Mad Hatter: "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"
"Have you guessed the riddle yet?" the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.
"No, I give it up," Alice replied: "What's the answer?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," said the Hatter — Lewis Carroll

We met a great many other interesting people, among them Lewis Carroll, author of the immortal "Alice"
but he was only interesting to look at, for he was the silliest and shyest full-grown man I have ever met except "Uncle Remus. — Mark Twain

When we were little," the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, "we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle - we used to call him Tortoise -"
"Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?" Alice asked.
"We called him Tortoise because he taught us," said the Mock Turtle angrily: "really you are very dull! — Lewis Carroll

Everybody has won, and all must have prizes. — Lewis Carroll

We haven't any and you're too young. — Lewis Carroll

Take off your hat," the King said to the Hatter.
"It isn't mine," said the Hatter.
"Stolen!" the King exclaimed, turning to the jury, who instantly made a memorandum of the fact.
"I keep them to sell," the Hatter added as an explanation; "I've none of my own. I'm a hatter. — Lewis Carroll

I feel like Alice in Wonderland. Maybe Lewis G Carroll was on drugs too. — Beatrice Sparks

Hold your tongue!' said the Queen, turning purple. 'I won't!' said Alice. 'Off with her head!' the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved. 'Who cares for you?' said Alice (she had grown to her full size by this time). 'You're nothing but a pack of cards!' At this the whole pack rose up into the air, and came flying down upon her; she gave a little scream, half of fright and half of anger, and tired to beat them off, and found herself lying on the bank, with her head in the lap of her sister, who was gently brushing away some dead leaves that had fluttered down from the trees upon her face. 'Wake up, Alice dear!' said her sister. 'Why, what a long sleep you've had!' So Alice got up and ran off, thinking while she ran, as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been. Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, 1865 — Lewis Carroll