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.”

“Are you a man or a mouse?”

“Everything, as you well know (having lived in this world long enough to have figured out a thing or two for yourself), cannot always be sweetness and light.”

“Love is ridiculous. But love is also wonderful. And powerful. And Despereaux's love for the Princess Pea would prove, in time, to be all of these things: powerful, wonderful, and ridiculous.”

“the story is not a pretty one. there is violence in it. And cruelty. But stories that are not pretty have a certain value, too, I suppose. Everything, as you well know (having lived in this world long enough to have figured out a thing or two for yourself), cannont always be sweetness and light.”

“Once upon a time," he said out loud to the darkness. He said these words because they were the best, the most powerful words that he knew and just the saying of them comforted him.”

“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.”

“Despereaux was reading the story out loud to himself. He was reading from the beginning so that he could get to the end...”

“READING SHOULD NOT BE PRESENTED TO CHILDREN AS A CHORE OR A DUTY. IT SHOULD BE OFFERED TO THEM AS A PRECIOUS GIFT.”

“Rats have a sense of humor. Rats, in fact think the world is very funny. And they are right, dear reader. They are right.”

“Love!' said the princess. She stamped her foot. 'Why must everyone always speak of love?”

“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.”

“Like most hearts, it was complicated, shaded with dark and dappled with light.”

“Allow me to congratulate you on your very astute powers of observation.”

“The sound of the king's music made Despereaux's soul grow large and light inside of him.”

“Reader, you may ask this question; in fact, you must ask this question: Is it ridiculous for a very small, sickly, big-eared mouse to fall in love with a beautiful princess named Pea?The answer is . . . yes. Of course, it's ridiculous.Love is ridiculous.But love is also wonderful. And powerful.”

“Don't drop him," said Peter's mother to his father. "Don't you dare drop him." She was laughing."I will not," said his father. "I could not." For he is Peter Augustus Duchene, and he will always return to me.Again and again, Peter's father threw him up in the air. Again and again, Peter felt himself suspended in nothingness for a moment, just a moment, and then he was pulled back, returned to the sweetness of the earth and the warmth of his father's waiting arms."See?" said his father to his mother. "Do you see how he always comes back to me?”

“Hands down, the biggest thrill is to get a letter from a kid saying, I loved your book. Will you write me another one? ”

“Say it, reader. Say the word 'quest' out loud. It is an extraordinary word, isn't it? So small and yet so full of wonder, so full of hope.”

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

“But still, here are the words Despereaux Tilling spoke to his father. He said, "I forgive you, Pa!" And he said those words because he sensed that it was the only way to save his heart, to stop it from breaking in two. Despereaux, reader, spoke those words to save himself.”

“That is surely the truth, at least for now. But perhaps you have not noticed: the truth is forever changing.”

“Pea was aware suddenly of how fragile her heart was, how much darkness was inside it, fighting, always, with the light. She did not like the rat. She would neverlike the rat, but she knew what she must do to save her own heart.”

“It seems to be that way with most things. No one to do the really disagreeable jobs except oneself.”

“Everything, as you well know . . . cannot always be sweetness and light.”

“Reader, do you think it is a terrible thing to hope when there is really no reason to hope at all? Or is it (as the soldier said about happiness) something that you might just as well do, since, in the end, it really makes no difference to anyone but you?”

“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.”

“Open your heart. Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart.”

“There is no right or wrong way to tell a story. You have to find your own way. You can get your idea from listening, looking, or imagining. Stories are everywhere. All you have to do is pay attention.”

“Truly, I did not intend to harm you, he said. That was never my intention.”

“I intended lilies, said the magician. but in the clutches of a desparate desire to do something extraordinary, I called down a greater magic and inadvertently caused you a profound harm. I will now try to undo what I have done.”

“Perhaps this is a dream, said Madam La Vaughn from her chair. Perhaps the whole thing has been nothing but a dream.”

“If the world held magic powerful enough to make the elephant appear, then there must exist, too, magic in equal measure, magic powerful enough to undo what had been done. ”

“If every babe who cried were still alive, well, then, the world would be a very crowded place, indeed.”

“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.”

“Things are not at all what they seem to be: oh no, not at all.”

“Life was so short; so many beautiful things slipped away.”

“My favorite six letter word isalwaysbecause it promisesso much.My favorite five letter word isneverbecause it insists on contradictingthe promise.My favorite four letter word isoncebecause it says ithappened then. My favorite three letter word isyesbecause I’m just now learningto say itto my heart. My favorite two letter word isifbecause it makesall things possiblelike this: If not alwaysIf not neverThen once. Yes.”

“There ain't a body, be it mouse or man, that ain't made better by a little soup.”

“I have a deep gratitude that Ida B exists.”

“Bink," said Gollie, "I must inform you that you are giving a home to a truly unremarkable fish.""I love him" said Bink.”

“Cerita seperti Cahaya”

“There are hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman.”

“Farewell is a word that, in any language, is full of sorrow. It is a word that promises nothing.”

“Light is precious in a world so dark.”

“You are down there alone, the stars seemed to say to him. And we are up here, in our constellations, together.”

“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.”

“Every well-written book is a light for me. When you write, you use other writers and their books as guides in the wilderness. ”

“How will the world change if we do not question it?”

“Longing is not always a reciprocal thing.”