When Mats came in the evenings, they would drink tea in the kitchen while reading their books and talking about them. If Katri came in, they were quiet and waited for her to leave. The back door would close, and Katri would have gone. “Does your sister read our books?” Anna wanted to know. “No. She reads literature.

Everything's much too big here,' thought Moominmamma. 'Or perhaps I'm too small.

I mean, anyone can let Danger out but the really clever thing is finding somewhere for it to go afterwards.

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

But that's how it is when you start wanting to have things. Now, I just look at them, and when I go away I carry them in my head. Then my hands are always free, because I don't have to carry a suitcase.

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

She started thinking about all the euphemisms for death, all the anxious taboos that had always fascinated her. It was too bad you could never have an intelligent discussion on the subject. People were either too young or too old, or else they didn't have time.