Great Throughts Treasury

"She tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing."

"She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it)."

"She tried her best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery; and when she had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thing sat down and cried. Come, there's no use in crying like that!' said Alice to herself rather sharply.' I advise you to leave off this minute!' She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. '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!"

"She who saves a single soul, saves the universe."

"So it is, said the Duchess, and the moral of that is - with love and one song keeps the world going on. Who said, 'Alice whispered,' it done in that each sweep in front of his door."

"She waited for some time without hearing anything more: at last came a rumbling of little cart-wheels, and the sound of a good many voices all talking together: she made out the words: Where?s the other ladder??Why, I hadn?t to bring but one. Bill's got the other?Bill! Fetch it here, lad!?Here, put ?em up at this corner?No, tie ?em together first?they don't reach half high enough yet?Oh! they?ll do well enough. Don?t be particular?Here, Bill! catch hold of this rope?Will the roof bear??Mind that loose slate?Oh, it?s coming down! Heads below! (a loud crash)?Now, who did that??It was Bill, I fancy?Who?s to go down the chimney??Nay, I shan?t! You do it!?That I wo?n?t, then!?Bill?s got to go down?Here, Bill! The master says you?ve got to go down the chimney!"

"She's stark raving mad!"

"She?ll get me executed, as sure as ferrets are ferrets!"

"Since I have possessed a "Wonderland Stamp Case", Life has been bright and peaceful, and I have used no other. I believe the Queen's laundress uses no other."

"So she was considering, in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her."

"So, to reward him for his run (As it was baking hot, and he was over twenty stone), the King proceeded, half in fun, to knight him on the spot."

"Some American writer has said ?the snakes in this district may be divided into one species?the venomous?. The same principle applies here. Postage-Stamp-Cases may be divided into one species, the ?Wonderland?. Imitations of it will soon appear, no doubt: but they cannot include the two Pictorial Surprises, which are copyright. You don't see why I call them 'Surprises'? Well, take the Case in your left hand, and regard it attentively. You see Alice nursing the Duchess's Baby ? (An entirely new combination, by the way : it doesn't occur in the book.) Now, with your right thumb and forefinger, lay hold of the little book, and suddenly pull it out. The Baby has turned into a Pig I If that doesn't surprise you, why, I suppose you wouldn't be surprised if your own Mother-in-law suddenly turned into a Gyroscope!"

"Speak English!' said the Eaglet. 'I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and I don't believe you do either!"

"Speak roughly to your little boy and beat him when he sneezes! he only does it to annoy, because he knows it teases!"

"So may it be for him, and me, and all of us! I mused. All that is evil, and dead, and hopeless, fading with the Night that is past! All that is good, and living, and hopeful, rising with the dawn of Day!"

"So she sat on with closed eyes, and half believed herself in Wonderland, though she knew she had but to open them again, and all would change to dull reality."

"Speak in French when you can?t think of the English for a thing-- turn your toes out when you walk--- and remember who you are!"

"So she was considering in her own mind...whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up & picking the daisies."

"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

"Still she haunts me, phantom-wise, Alice moving under skies never seen by waking eyes."

"Take care of the sounds and the sense will take care of itself."

"Take care of the sense and the sounds will take care of themselves."

"Suddenly the Professor started as if he had been electrified. Why, I had nearly forgotten the most important part of the entertainment! The Other Professor is to recite a Tale of a Pig I mean a Pig-Tale, he corrected himself. It has Introductory Verses at the beginning, and at the end. It can?t have Introductory Verses at the end, can it? said Sylvie. Wait till you hear it, said the Professor: then you will see. I?m not sure it hasn?t some in the middle, as well."

"That narrow window, I expect, serves but to let the dusk in - But please, said I, to recollect 'Twas fashioned by an architect Who pinned his faith on Ruskin!"

"That would never do, I'm sure,' said Alice: `the governess would never think of excusing me lessons for that. If she couldn't remember my name, she'd call me Miss! as the servants do.' Well. if she said Miss, and didn't say anything more,' the Gnat remarked, `of course you'd miss your lessons. That's a joke. I wish YOU had made it.' Why do you wish I had made it?' Alice asked. `It's a very bad one.' But the Gnat only sighed deeply, while two large tears came rolling down its cheeks. You shouldn't make jokes,' Alice said, `if it makes you so unhappy."

"Take some more tea, the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. I've had nothing yet, Alice replied in an offended tone, so I can't take more. You mean you can't take less, said the Hatter: it's very easy to take more than nothing. Nobody asked your opinion, said Alice."

"That?s the reason they?re called lessons, the Gryphon remarked: because they lessen from day to day."

"That's just the trouble with me, I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it."

"The `Why?' cannot, and need not, be put into words. Those for whom a child's mind is a sealed book, and who see no divinity in a child's smile, would read such words in vain: while for any one that has ever loved one true child, no words are needed. For he will have known the awe that falls on one in the presence of a spirit fresh from GOD's hands, on whom no shadow of sin, and but the outermost fringe of the shadow of sorrow, has yet fallen: he will have felt the bitter contrast between the haunting selfishness that spoils his best deeds and the life that is but an overflowing love--for I think a child's first attitude to the world is a simple love for all living things: and he will have learned that the best work a man can do is when he works for love's sake only, with no thought of name, or gain, or earthly reward. No deed of ours, I suppose, on this side the grave, is really unselfish: yet if one can put forth all one's powers in a task where nothing of reward is hoped for but a little child's whispered thanks, and the airy touch of a little child's pure lips, one seems to come somewhere near to this."

"That's the reason they're called lessons, the Gryphon remarked: because they lessen from day to day."

"The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice. 'Who are you?' said the Caterpillar. This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I ? I hardly know, sir, just at present ? at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.' 'What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. 'Explain yourself!' 'I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, 'because I'm not myself, you see.' 'I don't see,' said the Caterpillar. 'I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely, 'for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing."

"The air is bright with hues of light and rich with laughter and with singing: young hearts beat high in ecstasy, And banners wave, and bells are ringing: but silence falls with fading day, and there's an end to mirth and play. Ah, well-a-day!"

"The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and whiskers! She?ll get me executed, as sure as ferrets are ferrets! Where can I have dropped them, I wonder?"

"The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo."

"The different branches of Arithmetic--Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision."

"The dying crimson of the West that faintly tinged his haggard cheek, fell on her as she stood, and shed a glory round the patient head."

"The executioner's argument was that you couldn't cut of something's head unless there was a trunk to sever it from. He'd never done anything like that in his time of life, and wasn't going to start now. The King's argument was that anything that had a head, could be beheaded, and you weren't to talk nonsense. The Queen's argument was that if something wasn't done about it in less than no time, she'd have everyone beheaded all round. It was this last argument that had everyone looking so nervous and uncomfortable."

"The day was wet, the rain fell souse like jars of strawberry jam, a sound was heard in the old henhouse, a beating of a hammer."

"The hurrier I go, the behinder I get."

"The Mad Gardener's Song: He thought he saw an Elephant, That practiced on a fife: He looked again, and found it was A letter from his wife. 'At length I realize,' he said, 'the bitterness of Life!' He thought he saw a Buffalo Upon the chimney-piece: He looked again, and found it was His Sister's Husband's Niece. 'Unless you leave this house,' he said, 'I'll send for the Police!' He thought he saw a Rattlesnake that questioned him in Greek: He looked again, and found it was The Middle of Next Week. 'The one thing I regret,' he said, 'Is that it cannot speak!' He thought he saw a Banker's Clerk Descending from the bus: He looked again, and found it was A Hippopotamus. 'If this should stay to dine,' he said, 'There won't be much for us!' He thought he saw a Kangaroo That worked a coffee-mill: He looked again, and found it was A Vegetable-Pill. 'Were I to swallow this,' he said, 'I should be very ill!' He thought he saw a Coach-and-Four that stood beside his bed: He looked again, and found it was A Bear without a Head. 'Poor thing,' he said, 'poor silly thing! It's waiting to be fed!' He thought he saw an Albatross that fluttered round the lamp: He looked again, and found it was A Penny-Postage Stamp. 'You'd best be getting home,' he said: 'The nights are very damp!' He thought he saw a Garden-Door that opened with a key: He looked again, and found it was A Double Rule of Three: 'And all its mystery,' he said, 'Is clear as day to me!' He thought he saw a Argument That proved he was the Pope: He looked again, and found it was A Bar of Mottled Soap. 'A fact so dread,' he faintly said, 'Extinguishes all hope!"

"The light was faint, and soft the air that breathed around the place; and she was lithe, and tall, and fair, and with a wayward grace her queenly head she bare."

"THE MAD HATTER: Would you like some wine? ALICE: Yes... THE MAD HATTER: We haven't any and you're too young."

"The most precious human life is. It is given only once and you must live it so as not to be too painful for aimlessly wasted years not to burn the disgrace of vile and petty past, and when he died he could say: all my life and I paid all my strength to the best in the world."

"The master was an old Turtle--we used to call him Tortoise--' Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?' Alice asked. We called him Tortoise because he taught us,' said the Mock Turtle angrily; 'really you are very dull!' You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple question,' added the Gryphon; and then they both sat silent and looked at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth."

"THE MAD HATTER: -Have I gone mad? ALICE: I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret, all the best people are."

"The question is, which is to be master? That's all. They've a temper, some of them. Particularly verbs. Oh, they're the proudest! Adjectives, eh, you can do anything with, but not verbs however."

"The pictures, with their ruddy light, are changed to dust and ashes white, and I am left alone with night."

"The proper definition of a man is an animal that writes letters."

"The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed 'Off with her head! Off?' 'Nonsense!' said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent."

"The rabbits bow before thee, and cower in the straw; the chickens are submissive, and own thy will for law; bullfinches and canary thy bidding do obey; and e'en the tortoise in its shell dcoth never say thee nay."