Great Throughts Treasury

"And never, never, dear madam, put 'Wednesday' simply as the date! That way madness lies!"

"And so it fell upon a day, (That is, it never rose again)"

"And then the Duchess said: The moral of this is, take care of the sense and the sounds will take care of themselves."

"And she arose, and in that darkening room stood lonely as a spirit of the night ? stood calm and fearless in the gathered night ? and raised her eyes to heaven. There were tears upon her face, but in her heart was peace. Peace that the world nor gives nor takes away!"

"And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five what remains? Three hundred and sixty-four, of course. Humpty Dumpty looked doubtful, I'd rather see that done on paper, he said."

"And vinegar that makes them sour?and chamomile that makes them bitter?and?and barley-sugar and such things that make children sweet-tempered. I only wish people knew that: then they wouldn?t be so stingy about it, you know?"

"And what an ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking! No, it'll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere."

"And though the shadow of a sigh may tremble through the story, for happy summer days gone by, and vanish'd summer glory-- it shall not touch with breath of bale, the pleasance of our fairy-tale."

"And what is the use of a book, thought Alice, without pictures or conversation?"

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! He chortled in his joy."

"Anon, to sudden silence won, in fancy they pursue the dream-child moving through a land of wonders wild and new, in friendly chat with bird or beast - and half believe it true."

"As you have invited me, I cannot come, for I have made a rule to decline all invitations; but I will come the next day."

"Be what you would seem to be - or, if you'd like it put more simply - never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."

"As a general rule, do not kick the shins of the opposite gentleman under the table, if personally unacquainted with him; your pleasantry is liable to be misunderstood ? a circumstance at all times unpleasant."

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop."

"Better say nothing at all. Language is worth a thousand pounds a word!"

"Begin at the beginning, the King said, very gravely, and go on till you come to the end: then stop."

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son. The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!"

"But I don?t want to go among mad people, Alice remarked. Oh, you can?t help that, said the Cat: we?re all mad here. I?m mad. You?re mad. How do you know I?m mad? said Alice. You must be, said the Cat, or you wouldn?t have come here."

"Blow, blow your trumpets till they crack, ye little men of little souls! And bid them huddle at your back"

"But if I?m not the same, the next question is, ?Who in the world am I?? Ah, that?s the great puzzle!"

"But I was thinking of a way to multiply by ten, and always, in the answer, get the question back again."

"But I'm not a serpent, I tell you! said Alice. I'm a --- I'm a ---."

"But it must be borne in mind that, if there is a Scylla before me, there is also a Charybdis - and that, in my fear of being read as a jest, I may incur the darker destiny of not being read at all."

"But it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."

"But it's no use now, thought poor Alice, to pretend to be two people! Why, there's hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person!"

"But surely you trust God! Do you think He would let you come to harm? To be afraid is to distrust."

"But then, shall I never get any older than I am now? That'll be a comfort, one way -- never to be an old woman -- but then -- always to have lessons to learn!"

"But then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I?ve got to?"

"Can you row? the Sheep asked, handing her a pair of knitting-needles as she spoke. Yes, a little--but not on land--and not with needles-- Alice was beginning to say."

"But, said Alice, the world has absolutely no sense, who's stopping us from inventing one?"

"CHESHIRE CAT: If I were looking for a white rabbit, I'd ask the Mad Hatter. ALICE: The Mad Hatter? Oh, no no no... CHESHIRE CAT: Or, you could ask the March Hare, in that direction. ALICE: Oh, thank you. I think I'll see him... CHESHIRE CAT: Of course, he's mad, too. ALICE: But I don't want to go among mad people. CHESHIRE CAT: Oh, you can't help that. Most everyone's mad here. [laughs maniacally; starts to disappear] CHESHIRE CAT: You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself."

"Cheshire Puss,? she began... ?Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?? ?That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,? said the Cat. ?I don't much care where--? said Alice. ?Then it doesn't matter which way you go.? said the Cat."

"Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. 'Come, its pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. 'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' 'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat. 'I don't much care where?' said Alice. 'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat. '?so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation. 'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough."

"CAT: Where are you going? ALICE: Which way should I go? CAT: That depends on where you are going."

"Come back! the Caterpillar called after her. I've something important to say. This sounded promising, certainly. Alice turned and came back again. Keep your temper, said the Caterpillar."

"Cheshire Puss,' [Alice] began, rather timidly, `But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked. Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.' How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice. You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.' Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on `And how do you know that you're mad?' To begin with,' said the Cat, `a dog's not mad. You grant that?' I suppose so,' said Alice. Well, then,' the Cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad."

"Come, my child, I said, trying to lead her away. Wish good-bye to the poor hare, and come and look for blackberries. Good-bye, poor hare! Sylvie obediently repeated, looking over her shoulder at it as we turned away. And then, all in a moment, her self-command gave way. Pulling her hand out of mine, she ran back to where the dead hare was lying, and flung herself down at its side in such an agony of grief as I could hardly have believed possible in so young a child. Oh, my darling, my darling! she moaned, over and over again. And God meant your life to be so beautiful!"

"Come, hearken then, ere voice of dread, with bitter tiding laden, shall summon to unwelcome bed a melancholy maiden! We are but older children, dear, who fret to find our bedtime near."

"Consider anything, only don?t cry!"

"Curiouser and curiouser! Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English)."

"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."

"Contrariwise, 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."

"Do let's pretend that I'm a hungry hyena, and you're a bone!"

"Crawling at your feet,' said the Gnat (Alice drew her feet back in some alarm), `you may observe a Bread-and-Butterfly. Its wings are thin slices of Bread-and-butter, its body is a crust, and its head is a lump of sugar.' And what does IT live on?' Weak tea with cream in it.' A new difficulty came into Alice's head. `Supposing it couldn't find any?' she suggested. Then it would die, of course.' But that must happen very often,' Alice remarked thoughtfully. It always happens,' said the Gnat."

"Do you hear the snow against the window-panes, Kitty? How nice and soft it sounds! Just as if someone was kissing the window all over outside. I wonder if the snow LOVES the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again. And when they wake up in the summer, Kitty, they dress themselves all in green, and dance about?whenever the wind blows?oh, that's very pretty!' cried Alice, dropping the ball of worsted to clap her hands. 'And I do so WISH it was true! I'm sure the woods look sleepy in the autumn, when the leaves are getting brown."

"Curtsey while you're thinking what to say. It saves time."

"Do you know, I always thought unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before! Well, now that we have seen each other, said the unicorn, if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you."

"Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it? said the March Hare. Exactly so, said Alice. Then you should say what you mean, the March Hare went on. I do, Alice hastily replied; at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know. You might just as well say, added the Dormouse, which seemed to be talking in its sleep, that 'I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing as 'I sleep when I breathe!"

"Do you suppose she's a wildflower?"