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Lewis Carroll Quotes
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Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll , was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, which includes the poem "Jabberwocky", and the poem The Hunting of the Snark – all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic and fantasy. There are societies in many parts of the world dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life.

✵ 27. January 1832 – 14. January 1898
Lewis Carroll photo
Lewis Carroll: 241   quotes 302   likes

Lewis Carroll Quotes

“It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.”

Lewis Carroll

Variant: It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,' says the White Queen to Alice.
Source: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

Memory

“if you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison,' it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.”

Lewis Carroll book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Variant: If you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison' it is certain to disagree with you sooner or later.
Source: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Drink

“You've lost your muchness.”

Lewis Carroll

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

“p>Finally my Hiawatha
Tumbled all the tribe together,
('Grouped' is not the right expression),
And, as happy chance would have it
Did at last obtain a picture
Where the faces all succeeded:
Each came out a perfect likeness.Then they joined and all abused it,
Unrestrainedly abused it,
As the worst and ugliest picture
They could possibly have dreamed of.
'Giving one such strange expressions -
Sullen, stupid, pert expressions.
Really any one would take us
(Any one that did not know us)
For the most unpleasant people!”

Lewis Carroll

(Hiawatha seemed to think so,
Seemed to think it not unlikely.)</p>
Hiawatha's Photographing
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

People , Stupidity , Dreams , Thinking

“Not as in rest she bowed,
But large hot tears were coursing down her cheek.
And her low-panted sobs broke awefully
Upon the sleeping echoes of the night.”

Lewis Carroll Three Sunsets and Other Poems

The Path of Roses (1856)
Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898)

Tear , Sleep , Night

“In her eyes is the living Hght
Of a wanderer to earth
From a far celestial height:
Summers five are all the span —
Summers five since Time began
To veil in mists of human night
A shining angel-birth.

Does an angel look from her eyes?
Will she suddenly spring away,
And soar to her home in the skies?
Beatrice! Blessing and blessed to be!”

Lewis Carroll Three Sunsets and Other Poems

Beatrice (1862), st. 1
Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898)

Birth , Angels , Home , Spring

“My father was a Brownie, Sir;
My mother was a Fairy.
The notion had occurred to her,
The children would be happier,
If they were taught to vary.

The notion soon became a craze;
And, when it once began, she
Brought us all out in different ways -
One was a Pixy, two were Fays,
Another was a Banshee.”

Lewis Carroll

Canto 4
Phantasmagoria (1869)

Children , Way

“Put the date in full. It is another aggravating thing, when you wish, years afterwards, to arrange a series of letters, to find them dated "Feb. 17", "Aug. 2", without any year to guide you as to which comes first. And never, never, dear Madam (N. B. this remark is addressed to ladies only: no man would ever do such a thing), put "Wednesday", simply, as the date!”

Lewis Carroll

Eight or Nine Wise Words About Letter-Writing (1890)

“There is an insect that people avoid
(Whence is derived the verb 'to flee').
Where have you been by it most annoyed?
In lodgings by the Sea.”

Lewis Carroll

A Sea Dirge
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

People , Sea

“Then proudly smiled that old man
To see the eager lad
Rush madly for his pen and ink
And for his blotting-pad –
But, when he thought of publishing,
His face grew stern and sad.”

Lewis Carroll

Poeta Fit, Non Nascitur, last stanza
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

Sadness , Smile

“I charm in vain; for never again,
All keenly as my glance I bend,
Will Memory, goddess coy,
Embody for my joy
Departed days, nor let me gaze
On thee, my fairy friend!”

Lewis Carroll

"To my Child-friend" in The Game Of Logic (1886)

Memory , Joy

“The White Knight must not have whiskers; he must not be made to look old.”

Lewis Carroll

Instructions to Sir John Tenniel c.1864; quoted in Stuart Dodgson Collingwood, The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll (1898) p. 130

“"Our Second Experiment", the Professor announced, as Bruno returned to his place, still thoughtfully rubbing his elbows, "is the production of that seldom-seen-but-greatly-to-be-admired phenomenon, Black Light! You have seen White Light, Red Light, Green Light, and so on: but never, till this wonderful day, have any eyes but mine seen Black Light! This box", carefully lifting it upon the table, and covering it with a heap of blankets, "is quite full of it. The way I made it was this - I took a lighted candle into a dark cupboard and shut the door. Of course the cupboard was then full of Yellow Light. Then I took a bottle of Black ink, and poured it over the candle: and, to my delight, every atom of the Yellow Light turned Black! That was indeed the proudest moment of my life! Then I filled a box with it. And now - would anyone like to get under the blankets and see it?"Dead silence followed this appeal: but at last Bruno said "I'll get under, if it won't jingle my elbows."Satisfied on this point, Bruno crawled under the blankets, and, after a minute or two, crawled out again, very hot and dusty, and with his hair in the wildest confusion."What did you see in the box?" Sylvie eagerly enquired."I saw nuffin!" Bruno sadly replied. "It were too dark!""He has described the appearance of the thing exactly!"”

Lewis Carroll book Sylvie and Bruno

the Professor exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Black Light, and Nothing, look so extremely alike, at first sight, that I don't wonder he failed to distinguish them! We will now proceed to the Third Experiment."</p>
Source: Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893), Chapter 21: The Professor's Lecture

Life , Way , Light , Silence

“He thought he saw an Elephant,
That practised on a fife:
He looked again, and found it was
A letter from his wife.
'At length I realise,' he said,
'The bitterness of Life!”

Lewis Carroll book Sylvie and Bruno

Variant: 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!
Source: Sylvie and Bruno (1889), Chapter 5 : A Beggar's Palace

Life

“Those locks of jet are turned to gray,
And she is strange and far away
That might have been mine own to-day —

That might have been mine own, my dear,
Through many and many a happy year —
That might have sat beside me here.”

Lewis Carroll Three Sunsets and Other Poems

Faces in the Fire (1860), st. 8 & 9
Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898)

Happiness

“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.”

Lewis Carroll

Lays of Sorrow No.1, opening lines
The Rectory Umbrella

“There was once a young man of Oporta,
Who daily got shorter and shorter,
The reason he said
Was the hod on his head
Which was filled with the heaviest mortar.”

Lewis Carroll

Melodies No. 3
Useful and Instructive Poetry (1845)

“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!”

Lewis Carroll

Canto 3
Phantasmagoria (1869)

Faith , Fashion

“You have no mind to be unkind,"
Said echo in her ear:
"No mind to bring a living thing
To suffering or fear.
For all that's bad, or mean or sad, you have no mind,
my dear.”

Lewis Carroll

"To Janet Merriman", quoted in Letters of Lewis Carroll to his Child-Friends (1933) p. 81

Sadness , Fear , Suffering

“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.”

Lewis Carroll

Eight or Nine Wise Words About Letter-Writing (1890)

Life , Peace

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

Lewis Carroll

To a girl who was frightened of traveling by train
Quoted in Beatrice Hatch, "Lewis Carroll", Strand Magazine (April 1898), p. 421

God , Thinking

“A sadder vision yet: thine aged sire
Shaming his hoary locks with treacherous wile!
And dost thou now doubt Truth to be a liar?
And wilt thou die, that hast forgot to smile?”

Lewis Carroll

Four Riddles, no. II
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

Truth , Age , Smile

“God has given to Man an absolute right to take the lives of other animals, for any reasonable cause, such as the supply of food; but He has not given to Man the right to inflict pain, unless where necessary.”

Lewis Carroll book Sylvie and Bruno

Introduction
Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893)

God , Pain , Food , Animals

“I NEVER loved a dear Gazelle –
Nor anything that cost me much:
High prices profit those who sell,
but why should I be fond of such?”

Lewis Carroll

Tèma con Variazióne, st. 1
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

Love

“He is immensely fat, and so
Well suits the occupation:
In point of fact, if you must know,
We used to call him years ago,
THE MAYOR AND CORPORATION!”

Lewis Carroll

Canto 5
Phantasmagoria (1869)

“Say, whence is the voice that, when anger is burning,
Bids the whirl of the tempest to cease?
That stirs the vexed soul with an aching — a yearning
For the brotherly hand-grip of peace?”

Lewis Carroll book Sylvie and Bruno

Source: Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893), Chapter 19: A Fairy Duet

Peace , Soul , Anger

“Yet what are all such gaieties to me
Whose thoughts are full of indices and surds?
x2+7x+53
=11/3.”

Lewis Carroll

Four Riddles, no. I
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

“From his shoulder Hiawatha
Took the camera of rosewood,
Made of sliding, folding rosewood;
Neatly put it all together.
In its case it lay compactly,
Folded into nearly nothing;

But he opened out the hinges,
Pushed and pulled the joints and hinges,
Till it looked all squares and oblongs,
Like a complicated figure
In the Second Book of Euclid.”

Lewis Carroll

Hiawatha's Photographing st. 1 & 2
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

Books

“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.”

Lewis Carroll

Explaining the Knight-Mayor's name
Canto 5
Phantasmagoria (1869)

“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
Doth never say thee nay.”

Lewis Carroll

Lays of Sorrow No. 2
The Rectory Umbrella

Law

“"I've caught a cold," the Thing replies,
"Out there upon the landing."
I turned to look in some surprise,
And there, before my very eyes,
A little Ghost was standing!”

Lewis Carroll

Canto 1, "The Trysting"
Phantasmagoria (1869)

“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.”

Lewis Carroll Three Sunsets and Other Poems

Three Sunsets (1861)
Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898)

“Who's the Knight-Mayor?" I cried. Instead
Of answering my question,
"Well, if you don't know THAT," he said,
"Either you never go to bed,
Or you've a grand digestion!”

Lewis Carroll

Canto 5, "Byckerment"
Phantasmagoria (1869)

Question

“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!”

Lewis Carroll

Eight or Nine Wise Words About Letter-Writing (1890)

Books , Law , Way , Appearance

“Lady Clara Vere de Vere
Was eight years old, she said:
Every ringlet, lightly shaken, ran itself in golden thread.”

Lewis Carroll

Echoes
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

“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!”

Lewis Carroll

Four Riddles, no. III
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

Laughter , Light , Silence , Singing

“I wasn't asleep! said Bruno, in a deeply-injured tone. "When I shuts mine eyes, it's to show that I'm awake!"”

Lewis Carroll book Sylvie and Bruno

Source: Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893), Chapter 1: Bruno's Lessons

“And at last we've got to the end of this ideal racecourse! Now that you accept A and B and C and D, of course you accept Z."
"Do I?" said the Tortoise innocently. "Let's make that quite clear. I accept A and B and C and D. Suppose I still refused to accept Z?"
"Then Logic would take you by the throat, and force you to do it!" Achilles triumphantly replied. "Logic would tell you, 'You can't help yourself. Now that you've accepted A and B and C and D, you must accept Z!' So you've no choice, you see."
"Whatever Logic is good enough to tell me is worth writing down," said the Tortoise. "So enter it in your notebook, please. We will call it
(E) If A and B and C and D are true, Z must be true.
Until I've granted that, of course I needn't grant Z. So it's quite a necessary step, you see?”

Lewis Carroll book What the Tortoise Said to Achilles

"I see," said Achilles; and there was a touch of sadness in his tone.
"What the Tortoise Said to Achilles", Mind, n.s., 4 (1895), pp. 278–80

Sadness , Help

“"What may I do?" at length I cried,
Tired of the painful task.
The fairy quietly replied,
And said "You must not ask."”

Lewis Carroll

My Fairy
Useful and Instructive Poetry (1845)

Pain

“'O gin I find anither ladye,'
He said wi' sighs and tears,
'I wot my coortin' sall not be
Anither thirty years:

For gin I find a ladye gay,
Exactly to my taste,
I'll pop the question, aye or nay,
In twenty years at maist.”

Lewis Carroll

The Lang Coortin, last two stanzas
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

Question , Tear

“Last night we owned, with looks forlorn,
"Too well the scholar knows
There is no rose without a thorn" —
But peace is made! We sing, this morn,
"No thorn without a rose!"
Our Latin lesson is complete:
We've learned that Love is Bitter-Sweet!”

Lewis Carroll Three Sunsets and Other Poems

A Lesson in Latin (1888), st. 3
Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898)

Love , Peace , Learning , Singing

“One winter night, at half past nine,
Cold, tired, and cross, and muddy,
I had come home, too late to dine”

Lewis Carroll

Opening lines
Phantasmagoria (1869)

Home , Winter , Past , Night

“Yet still to choose a brat like you,
To haunt a man of forty-two,
Was no great compliment!”

Lewis Carroll

Canto 1
Phantasmagoria (1869)

“I suppose every child has a world of his own — and every man, too, for the matter of that. I wonder if that's the cause for all the misunderstanding there is in Life?”

Lewis Carroll book Sylvie and Bruno

Source: Sylvie and Bruno (1889), Chapter 4 : A Cunning Conspiracy

Life , World

“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!”

Lewis Carroll Three Sunsets and Other Poems

The Path of Roses (1856), concluding lines
Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898)

World , Peace , Tear , Heart

“The pictures, with their ruddy light,
Are changed to dust and ashes white,
And I am left alone with night.”

Lewis Carroll Three Sunsets and Other Poems

Faces in the Fire (1860), st. 13
Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898)

Light , Change , Night

“"True love gives true love of the best:
Then take," I cried, "my heart to thee!"
The very heart from out my breast
I plucked, I gave it willingly;
Her very heart she gave to me —
Then died the glory from the west.In the gray light I saw her face,
And it was withered, old, and gray;
The flowers were fading in their place,
Were fading with the fading day.”

Lewis Carroll Three Sunsets and Other Poems

Stolen Waters (1862)
Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898)

Love , Flowers , Light , Heart

“Blow, blow your trumpets till they crack,
Ye little men of little souls!
And bid them huddle at your back -
Gold-sucking leeches, shoals on shoals!Fill all the air with hungry wails -
"Reward us, ere we think or write!
Without your Gold mere Knowledge fails
To sate the swinish appetite!"”

Lewis Carroll

Fame's Penny-Trumpet st. 1 & 2
Rhyme? and Reason? (1883)

Men , Soul , Knowledge , Thinking

“Say, what is the spell, when her fledgelings are cheeping,
That lures the bird home to her nest?
Or wakes the tired mother, whose infant is weeping,
To cuddle and croon it to rest?”

Lewis Carroll book Sylvie and Bruno

Source: Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893), Chapter 19: A Fairy Duet

Home , Bird

“If the Letter is to be in answer to another, begin by getting out that other letter and reading it through, in order to refresh your memory, as to what it is you have to answer, and as to your correspondent’s present address (otherwise you will be sending your letter to his regular address in London, though he has been careful in writing to give you his Torquay address in full).”

Lewis Carroll

Eight or Nine Wise Words About Letter-Writing (1890)

Memory , Reading