L. Frank Baum

“It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.”

“Do not despair whatever happens for behind the clouds is always the rainbow.”

“I am content in knowing I am as brave as any best that ever lived, if not braver.”

“True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid...”

“Those who remember are usually the unhappy ones. Only those who are able to forget, find the most joy in life.”

“No matter how dreary and grey our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home.”

“The queerness doesn't matter so long as they're friends.”

“dismal”

“One can be ugly in looks, but lovely in disposition.”

“If we didn't want anything, we would never get anything, good or bad. I think our longings are natural, and if we act as nature prompts us we can't go far wrong.”

“I cannot understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful country and go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas.""That is because you have no brains," answered the girl. "No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home." The Scarecrow sighed."Of course I cannot understand it," he said. "If your heads were stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably all live in beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains.”

“He is my dog, Toto," answered Dorothy."Is he made of tin, or stuffed?" asked the Lion."Neither. He's a-- a-- a meat dog," said the girl.”

“The cyclone had set the house down gently, very gently – for a cyclone—in the midst of a country of marvelous beauty. There were lovely patches of green sward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes. A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful to a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairies.”

“It is such an uncomfortable feeling to know one is a fool.”

“Dorothy said nothing. Oz had not kept the promise he made her, but he had done his best. So she forgave him. As he said, he was a good man, even if he was a bad Wizard.”

“She said, "You might become politicians.""No!" cried Beni, with sudden fierceness; "we must not abandon our high calling. Bandits we have always been, and bandits we must remain!”

“..."but there is no doubt they intend to kill us as dead as possible in a short time." - said the Wizard"As dead as poss'ble would be pretty dead, wouldn't it?" asked Dorothy.from "Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz”

“Tarts and tadpoles!...The boy is still alive!”

“but one egg isn't good for anything at all”

“...but those as knows the least have a habit of thinkin' they know all there is to know, while them as knows the most admits what a turr'ble big world this is. It's the knowing ones that realize one lifetime ain't long enough to git more'n a few dips o' the oars of knowledge.”

“You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins. We are so grateful to you for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free from bondage.”

“It isn't what we are, but what folks think we are, that counts in this world.”

“...thanks for good deeds do not amount to much except to prove one's politeness.”

“No Queen with a frozen heart is fit to rule any country.”

“I think,' said the little Queen, smiling, 'that your friend must be the richest man in all the world.' 'I am,' returned the Scarecrow; 'but not on account of my money. For I consider brains to be far superior to money, in every way. You may have noticed that if one has money without brains, he cannot use it to advantage; but if one has brains without money, they will enable him to live comfortably to the end of days.' 'At the same time,' declared the Tin Woodman, 'you must acknowledge that a good heart is a thing that brains cannot create, and that money cannot buy. Perhaps, after all it is I who am the richest man in all the world.' 'You are both rich, my friends,' said Ozma gently; 'and your riches are the only riches worth having - the riches of content!' - The Marvellous Land Of Oz by L. Frank Baum pg 192 chapter 24”

“Do try to be more cheerful and take life as you find it -The Scarecrow - The Marvellous Land Of Oz by L. Frank Baum pg 135 chapter 18”

“Everything in life is unusual until you get accustomed to it -The Scarecrow - The Marvellous Land Of Oz by L. Frank Baum pg 103 chapter 13”

“Well, I cannot claim any great experience in life,' the Saw-Horse answered for himself; 'but I seem to learn very quickly, and often it occurs to me that I know more than any of those around me.' 'Perhaps you do,' said the Emperor; 'for experience does not always mean wisdom. - The Marvellous Land Of Oz by L. Frank Baum pg 89 chapter 11”

“Do not, I beg of you, dampen today's sun with the showers of tomorrow." - Emperor Nick Chopper (The Tin Woodsman) -The Marvellous Land Of Oz by L. Frank Baum pg 86 chapter 11”

“For although I feel that I know a tremendous lot, I am not yet aware how much there is in the world to find out about. It will take me a little time to discover whether I am very wise or very foolish" - Jack Pumpkinhead - The Marvellous Land Of Oz by L. Frank Baum pg 20 chapter 2”

“It was a terrible thing to undergo, but during the year I stood there I had time to think that the greatest loss I had known was the loss of my heart. While I was in love I was the happiest man on earth; but no one can love who has not a heart, and so I am resolved to ask Oz to give me one. - The Tin Woodsman, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz pgs 72-73.”

“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Dorothy, clasping her hands together in dismay. "The house must have fallen on her. Whatever shall we do?”

“She was awakened by a shock, so sudden and severe that if Dorothy had not been lying on the soft bed she might have been hurt. As it was, the jar made her catch her breath and wonder what had happened; and Toto put his cold little nose into her face and whined dismally. Dorothy sat up and noticed that the house was not moving; nor was it dark, for the bright sunshine came in at the window, flooding the little room. She sprang from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran and opened the door.”

“Like all bullies and marauders, Gos was a coward at heart”

“...it is always wise to do one's duty, however unpleasant that duty may seem to be." -Ozma”

“I never deal in transformations, for they are not honest, and no respectable sorceress likes to make things appear to be what they are not.”

“Time is given us to be happy and for no other reason [...] When we waste time, we waste happiness.”

“If I had a heart”

“When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.”

“Stunt dwarf or destroy the imagination of a child and you have taken away its chances of success in life. Imagination transforms the commonplace into the great and creates the new out of the old.”

“Now then, Mr. Crab," said the zebra, "here are the people I told you about; and they know more than you do, who live in a pool, and more than I do, who live in a forest. For they have been travelers all over the world, and know every part of it.""There's more of the world than Oz," declared the crab, in a stubborn voice."That is true," said Dorothy; "but I used to live in Kansas, in the United States, and I've been to California and to Australia--and so has Uncle Henry.""For my part," added the Shaggy Man, "I've been to Mexico and Boston and many other foreign countries.""And I," said the Wizard, "have been to Europe and Ireland.""So you see," continued the zebra, addressing the crab, "here are people of real consequence, who know what they are talking about.”

“But you will admit that it is a very good thing to be alive.”

“To 'know Thyself' is considered quite an accomplishment.”

“Everything has to come to an end, sometime.”

“As a matter of fact, we are none of us above criticism; so let us bear with each other's faults.”

“How very wet this water is.”

“For I consider brains far superior to money in every way. You may have noticed that if one has money without brains, he cannot use it to his advantage; but if one has brains without money, they will enable him to live comfortably to the end of his days.”

“No thief, however skillful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire.”

“Imagination has brought mankind through the Dark Ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity. Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities. So I believe that dreams - day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing - are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to create, to invent, and therefore to foster civilization.”

“It must be inconvenient to be made of flesh,' said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully, 'for you must sleep, and eat and drink. However, you have brains, and it is worth a lot of bother to be able to think properly.”