“-"What's that for?"-"Have a little bread with your ice cream," she told me.”

“-And I'm sorry too.-For what?-For calling you an asshole doctor.-That's okay.-Even though, technically, that is what you are.”

“He was like a lot of Warmbloods, massive and showy and a bit of a dumb jock...”

“The children came to a perfume shop. In the show window was a large jar of freckle salve, and beside the jar was a sign, which read: DO YOU SUFFER FROM FRECKLES?'What does the sign say?' ask Pippi. She couldn’t read very well because she didn’t want to go to school as other children did.'It says, "Do you suffer from freckles?"' said Annika.'Does it indeed?' said Pippi thoughtfully. 'Well, a civil question deserves a civil answer. Let’s go in.'She opened the door and entered the shop, closely followed by Tommy and Annika. An elderly lady stood back of the counter. Pippi went right up to her. 'No!' she said decidedly.'What is it you want?' asked the lady.'No,' said Pippi once more.'I don’t understand what you mean,' said the lady.'No, I don’t suffer from freckles,' said Pippi.Then the lady understood, but she took one look at Pippi and burst out, 'But, my dear child, your whole face is covered with freckles!''I know it,' said Pippi, 'but I don’t suffer from them. I love them. Good morning.'She turned to leave, but when she got to the door she looked back and cried, 'But if you should happen to get in any salve that gives people more freckles, then you can send me seven or eight jars.”

“As the children were sitting there eating pears, a girl came walking along the road from town. When she saw the children she stopped and asked, "Have you seen my papa go by?""M-m-m," said Pippi. "How did he look? Did he have blue eyes?""Yes," said the girl."Medium large, not too tall and not too short?""Yes," said the girl."Black hat and black shoes?""Yes, exactly," said the girl eagerly."No, that one we haven't seen," said Pippi decidedly.”

“You understand Teacher, don't you, that when you have a mother who's an angel and a father who is a cannibal king, and when you have sailed on the ocean all your whole life, then you don't know just how to behave in school with all the apples and ibexes.”

“So many people consider their work a daily punishment. Whereas I love my work as a translator. Translation is a journey over a sea from one shore to the other. Sometimes I think of myself as a smuggler: I cross the frontier of language with my booty of words, ideas, images, and metaphors.”