Kate DiCamillo Quotes

77 Sourced Quotes

Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.

Kate DiCamillo
Despereaux looked down at the book, and something remarkable happened. The marks on the pages, the "squiggles" as Merlot referred to them, arranged themselves into shapes. The shapes arranged themselves into words, and the words spelled out a delicious and wonderful phrase: Once upon a time

Kate DiCamillo
But, reader, there is no comfort in the word "farewell," even if you say it in French. "Farewell" is a word that, in any language, is full of sorrow. It is a word that promises absolutely nothing.

Kate DiCamillo
There is nothing sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name.

Kate DiCamillo
And hope is like love... a ridiculous, wonderful, powerful thing.

Kate DiCamillo
It is important that you say what you mean to say. Time is too short. You must speak the words that matter.

Kate DiCamillo
There is a lot of love in him, a lot of love in his heart...And he is up there with no one and nothing to love. It is a bad thing to have love and no where to put it.

Kate DiCamillo
No one cared what she wanted. No one had ever cared. And perhaps, worst of all, no one ever would care.

Kate DiCamillo
We must ask ourselves these questions as often as we dare. How will the world change if we do not question it?

Kate DiCamillo
Normally, Edward would have found intrusive, clingy behavior of this sort very annoying, but there was something about Sarah Ruth. He wanted to take care of her. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to do more for her.

Kate DiCamillo
Despereaux did not know it, but he would need, very soon, to be brave himself.

Kate DiCamillo
At the thought of being eaten by rats, Despereaux forgot about being brave. He forgot about not being a disappointment. He felt himself heading into another faint. But his mother, who had an excellent sense of dramatic timing, beat him to it; she executed a beautiful, flawless swoon, landing right at Despereaux's feet.

Kate DiCamillo
Reader, nothing is sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name. Nothing.

Kate DiCamillo
Perhaps," said the man, "you would like to be lost with us. I have found it much more agreeable to be lost in the company of others.

Kate DiCamillo
Open your heart. Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart.

Kate DiCamillo
This is the danger of loving: No matter how powerful you are, no matter how many kingdoms you rule, you cannot stop those you love from dying.

Kate DiCamillo
Anything could happen. Together, she and Ulysses could change the world. Or something.

Kate DiCamillo
Look at me, he said to her. His arms and legs jerked. Look at me. You got your wish. I have learned how to love. And it's a terrible thing. I'm broken. My heart is broken. Help me. The old woman turned and hobbled away. Come back, thought Edward. Fix me

Kate DiCamillo
Reader, you must know that an interesting fate (sometimes involving rats, sometimes not) awaits almost everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform.

Kate DiCamillo
There ain't no way you can hold onto something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it.

Kate DiCamillo
Have you, in truth, ever seen something so heartbreakingly lovely? What are we to make of a world where stars shine bright in the midst of so much darkness and gloom?

Kate DiCamillo
The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story.

Kate DiCamillo
That was the thing about tragedy. It was just sitting there, keeping you company, waiting. And you had absolutely no idea.

Kate DiCamillo
Her mother called to her. She said, "Where are you going, Flora Belle?"
Flora didn't answer her. She never answered her mother when she called her Flora Belle.
Sometimes she didn't answer her mother when she called her Flora either.

Kate DiCamillo
You must be filled with expectancy. You must be awash in hope. You must wonder who will love you, whom you will love next.

Kate DiCamillo
All of God's creatures have names, every last one of them. Of that I am sure: of that I have no doubt at all.

Kate DiCamillo
Besides, who ever asked you what you wanted in this world, girl? The answer to that question, reader, as you well know, was absolutely no one.

Kate DiCamillo
During the night, while Bull and Lucy slept, Edward, with ever-open eyes, stared up at the constellations. He said their names, and then he said the names of the people who loved him. He started with Abilene, and then went on to Nellie and Lawrence and from there to Bull and Lucy, and then he ended again with Abilene: Abilene, Nellie, Lawrence, Bull, Lucy, Abilene. See? Edward told Pellegrina. I am not like the princess. I know about love.

Kate DiCamillo
And so he was reading the story as if it were a spell and the words of it, spoken aloud, could make magic happen.

Kate DiCamillo
Flora hated the phrase 'correct me if I'm wrong.' In her experience, people said it when they knew they were right.

Kate DiCamillo