Lewis Carroll Quotes

355 Sourced Quotes

The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,
All on a summer day:
The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,
And took them quite away!

Lewis Carroll
'Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, 'if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be: but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'

Lewis Carroll
Now that's a thing I WILL NOT STAND,
And so I tell you flat.

Lewis Carroll
I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then

Lewis Carroll
I'm very brave generally,' he went on in a low voice: 'only today I happen to have a headache.' (Tweedledum)

Lewis Carroll
"Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with," the Mock Turtle replied, "and the different branches of Arithmetic —Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision."

Lewis Carroll
"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

Lewis Carroll
"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law, And argued each case with my wife; And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw, Has lasted the rest of my life."

Lewis Carroll
I said you LOOKED like an egg, Sir. And some eggs are very pretty, you know.

Lewis Carroll
The White Knight must not have whiskers; he must not be made to look old.

Lewis Carroll
If you set to work to believe everything, you will tire out the believing-muscles of your mind, and then you'll be so weak you won't be able to believe the simplest true things.

Lewis Carroll
One winter night, at half past nine,
Cold, tired, and cross, and muddy,
I had come home, too late to dine

Lewis Carroll
He said, 'I look for butterflies
That sleep among the wheat:
I make them into mutton-pies,
And sell them in the street.'

Lewis Carroll
There was silence supreme! Not a shriek, not a scream, Scarcely even a howl or a groan, As the man they called "Ho!" told his story of woe In an antediluvian tone.

Lewis Carroll
The Carpenter said nothing but "The butter's spread too thick!"

Lewis Carroll
Alice thought to herself, 'Then there's no use in speaking.' The voices didn't join in this time, as she hadn't spoken, but to her great surprise, they all thought in chorus (I hope you understand what thinking in chorus means—for I must confess that I don't), 'Better say nothing at all. Language is worth a thousand pounds a word!

Lewis Carroll
Child of the pure, unclouded brow And dreaming eyes of wonder! Though time be fleet and I and thou Are half a life asunder, Thy loving smile will surely hail The love-gift of a fairy tale.

Lewis Carroll
The pictures, with their ruddy light,
Are changed to dust and ashes white,
And I am left alone with night.

Lewis Carroll
But the principal failing occurred in the sailing,
And the Bellman, perplexed and distressed,
Said he had hoped, at least, when the wind blew due East,
That the ship would not travel due West!

Lewis Carroll
Who did you pass on the road?" the King went on, holding out his hand to the Messenger for some more hay. "Nobody," said the Messenger. "Quite right," said the King; "this young lady saw him too. So of course Nobody walks slower than you." "I do my best," the Messenger said in a sullen tone. "I'm sure nobody walks much faster than I do!" "He can't do that," said the King, "or else he'd have been here first.

Lewis Carroll
Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.

Lewis Carroll
I said it in Hebrew—I said it in Dutch— I said it in German and Greek; But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much) That English is what you speak!

Lewis Carroll
The Red Queen shook her head, "You may call it nonsense if you like," she said, "but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"

Lewis Carroll
He thought he saw a Buffalo Upon the chimneypiece: He looked again, and found it was His sister's husband's niece.

Lewis Carroll
So young a child ought to know which way she's going, even if she doesn't know her own name!

Lewis Carroll
I could tell you my adventures—beginning from this morning, said Alice a little timidly; but it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.

Lewis Carroll
'Yes, that's it,' said the Hatter with a sigh: 'it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.'

Lewis Carroll
He thought he saw an Elephant,
That practised on a fife:
He looked again, and found it was
A letter from his wife.
'At length I realise,' he said,
'The bitterness of Life!'

Lewis Carroll
What a funny watch!' she remarked. 'It tells the day of the month, and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!' 'Why should it?' muttered the Hatter. 'Does YOUR watch tell you what year it is?' 'Of course not,' Alice replied very readily: 'but that's because it stays the same year for such a long time together.' 'Which is just the case with MINE,' said the Hatter.

Lewis Carroll
O bitter is it to abide
In weariness alway:
At dawn to sigh for eventide,
At eventide for day.
Thy noon hath fled: thy sun hath shone:
The brightness of thy day is gone:
What need to lag and linger on
Till life be cold and gray?

Lewis Carroll