Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both cartoons and humorous articles for them. Additionally, he was submitting cartoons to Life, Vanity Fair and Liberty. In some of his works, he'd made reference to an insecticide called Flit. These references gained notice, and led to a contract to draw comic ads for Flit. This association lasted 17 years, gained him national exposure, and coined the catchphrase "Quick, Henry, the Flit!"
In 1936 on the way to a vacation in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was then promptly rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success.
During World War II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit (for which he won the Legion of Merit) and do documentaries (he won Oscar's for Hitler Lives and Design for Death). He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar.
In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published
The Cat in the Hat
, which went on to instant success.
In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was
Green Eggs and Ham
. Cerf never paid the $50 from the bet.
Helen Palmer Geisel died in 1967. Theodor Geisel married Audrey Stone Diamond in 1968. Theodor Seuss Geisel died 24 September 1991.
Also worked under the pen name:
Theo Le Sieg
“Cause when a guy does something stupid once, well that’s because he’s a guy. But if he does the same stupid thing twice, that’s usually to impress some girl.”
“You have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoes.You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
“This book is to be read in bed.”
“Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.”
“You are you. Now, isn't that pleasant?”
“The more you read, the more things you will know.”
“Cat, you ruined mom's dress!""Honey, it was ruined when she bought it.”
“Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew. While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew. Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze. Freezy trees made these trees' cheese freeze. That's what made these three free fleas sneeze.”
“You have to be a speedy reader because there’s so so much to read.”
“When you think things are bad,when you feel sour and blue,when you start to get mad...you should do what I do!Just tell yourself, Duckie, you're really quite lucky!Some people are much more...oh, ever so much more...oh, muchly much-much moreunlucky than you!”
“It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become.”
“It is fun to have fun but you have to know how.”
“Ninety percent of the children’s books patronize the child and say there’s a difference between you and me, so you listen to this story. I, for some reason or another, don’t do that. I treat the child as an equal.”
“Did you ever fly a kite in bed? Did you ever walk with ten cats on your head? Did you ever milk this kind of cow? Well, we can do it. We know how. If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good.”
“I speak for the trees!”
“Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night or waiting perhaps for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or another chance. Everyone is just waiting.”
“I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.”
“Teeth are always in style.”
“He took the Who’s feast, he took the Who pudding, he took the roast beast. He cleaned out that ice box as quick as a flash. Why, the Grinch even took their last can of Who hash.”
“Oh, the places you'll go!”
“I meant what I said and I said what I meant.”
“With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.”
“Not here not there not anywhere!”
“I’m glad we had the times together just to laugh and sing a song, seems like we just got started and then before you know it, the times we had together were gone.”
“It has often been saidthere’s so much to be read,you never can cramall those words in your head.So the writer who breedsmore words than he needsis making a chorefor the reader who reads.That's why my belief isthe briefer the brief is,the greater the sighof the reader's relief is.And that's why your bookshave such power and strength.You publish with shorth!(Shorth is better than length.)”
“Be awesome! Be a book nut!”
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
“I can read in red.I can read in blue.I can read in pickle color too.”
“Oh, the things you can find if you don't stay behind!”
“But now," says the Once-ler, "now that you're here, the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
“Remember me and smile, for it's better to forget than to remember me and cry.”
“Everything stinks till it’s finished.”
“How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”
“My shoe is off. My foot is cold. I have a bird I like to hold.”
“He should not be here, " said the fish in the pot. " he should not be here when your mother is not.”
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.”
“I'm afraid that sometimes you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you.”
“Congratulations!Today is your day.You're off to Great Places!You're off and away!”
“Fame you'll be famous, as famous as can be, with everyone watching you win on TV, Except when they don't because sometimes they won't..”
“So...be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Brayor Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,you're off to Great Places!Today is your day!Your mountain is waiting.So...get on your way!”
“And what would you do if you met a jibboo?”
“They say I'm old-fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast!”
“Think and wonder, wonder and think.”
“Horton, the kangaroo has sent Vlad!'Vlad? I know two Vlads. One is a cute little bunny that brings me cookies. The other is bad Vlad. Which Vlad?'Which one do you think?'Bad Vlad?'Good call.”
“ASAP. Whatever that means. It must mean, 'Act swiftly awesome pacyderm!”
“We throw in as many fresh words as we can get away with. Simple, short sentences don't always work. You have to do tricks with pacing, alternate long sentences with short, to keep it alive and vital. Virtually every page is a cliff-hanger—you've got to force them to turn it.”
“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.”
“I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am.”
“You'll be on your way up!You'll be seeing great sights!You'll join the high flierswho soar to high heights.”
“If you want to catch beasts you don't see every day,You have to go places quite out of the way,You have to go places no others can get to.You have to get cold and you have too get wet, too.”