Kate DiCamillo citations

“Open your heart. Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart.”

“I have been loved, Edward told the stars. So? said the stars. What difference does that make when you are all alone now?”

“Love is ridiculous. But love is also wonderful. And powerful. And Despereaux's love for the Princess Pea would prove, in time, to be all of these things: powerful, wonderful, and ridiculous.”

“We appreciate the complicated and wonderful gifts you give us in each other. And we appreciate the task you put down before us, of loving each other the best we can, even as you love us.”

“The undoing is almost always more difficult than the doing.”

“There ain't no way you can hold onto something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it.”

“Reader, nothing is sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name. Nothing.”

“Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.”

“You can't always judge people by the things they done. You got to judge them by what they are doing now.”

“Once upon a time," he said out loud to the darkness. He said these words because they were the best, the most powerful words that he knew and just the saying of them comforted him.”

“Reader, you must know that an interesting fate (sometimes involving rats, sometimes not) awaits almost everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform.”

“The world is dark and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story.”

“This is the danger of loving: No matter how powerful you are, no matter how many kingdoms you rule, you cannot stop those you love from dying.”

“You must be filled with expectancy. You must be awash in hope. You must wonder who will love you, whom you will love next.”

“If you have no intention of loving or being loved, the whole journey is pointless.”

“It is important that you say what you mean to say. Time is too short. You must speak the words that matter.”

“But, reader, there is no comfort in the word "farewell," even if you say it in French. "Farewell" is a word that, in any language, is full of sorrow. It is a word that promises absolutely nothing.”

“Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark.”

“It is a bad thing to have love and nowhere to put it.”

“Say it, reader. Say the word "quest" out loud. It is an extraordinary word, isn't it? So small and yet so full of wonder, so full of hope. so trthen despererux died i n heaven and in peace”

“Edward knew what it was like to say over and over again the names of those you had left behind. He knew what it was like to miss someone. And so he listened. And in his listening, his heart opened wide and then wider still. (page 103)”

“Despereaux marveled at his own bravery. He admired his own defiance. And then, reader, he fainted. :(”

“Perhaps," said the man, "you would like to be lost with us. I have found it much more agreeable to be lost in the company of others.”

“Magic is always impossible…. It begins with the impossible and ends with the impossible and is impossible in between. That is why it's magic.”

“You can always trust a dog that likes peanut butter.”

“Nothing
would be
easier without
you,
because you
are
everything,
all of it-
sprinkles, quarks, giant
donuts, eggs sunny-side up-
you
are the ever-expanding
universe
to me.”

“How will the world change if we do not question it?”

“Do you think everybody misses somebody? Like I miss my mama?” “Mmmm-hmmm,” said Gloria. She closed her eyes. “I believe, sometimes, that the whole world has an aching heart.”

“It's hard not to immediately fall in love witha dog who has a good sense of humor.”