One ought to have the right to have a secret and to spring it as a surprise. But if you live inside a family you have neither.

...by and by a change came: I started to muse about the shape of my nose. I put my trivial surroundings aside and mused more and more about myself, and I found this to be a bewitching occupation. I stopped asking and longed instead to speak of my thoughts and feelings. Alas, there was no one besides myself who found me interesting.

Storms probably exist only because after them we can have a sunrise.

The thing about God, she thought, is that He usually does help, but not until you've made an effort on your own.

He was the owner of the moonlight on the ground, he fell in love with the most beautiful of the trees, he made wreaths of leaves and strung them around his neck.

I don't want to hear about them any more. I could vomit on the Moomintrolls.

It looks rather ordinary," said the Snork. "Unless you consider that a top hat is always somewhat extraordinary, of course.