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In his poem titled “My Heart Leaps Up”, William Wordsworth uses the expression, ‘Child is the Father of Man‘. And he was absolutely right in saying that ’cause there is so much we can learn from children.
This article is a collection of 107 inspirational and insightful quotes taken purely from children’s books and novels that carry profound life advice. Let’s checkout how deep these quotes really are.
“Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.”
– Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
“Things are always better in the morning.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
“Along in life, as you will go, remember the times when you must say no.”
– Stephen Cosgrov, Squeakers
“Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more experience you are sure to get.”
― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
“The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child’s Garden of Verses
“Life is just a lot of everyday adventures.”
― Carol Ryrie Brink, Caddie Woodlawn
“It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
“Maybe I can only do small things. But my small things might join small things other people do. And, together, they could grow into something big.”
– Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller
“Let’s worry about fixing the problem instead of the blame.”
― Brandon Mull, Fablehaven
“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
“Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.”
– Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
“You can’t always judge people by the things they have done. You got to judge them by what they are doing now.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Because of Winn-Dixie
“If you try and lose then it isn’t your fault. But if you don’t try and we lose, then it’s all your fault.”
― Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
“Mistakes are always mistakes, or so I’ve heard them say, but if it teaches you a lesson, the mistake will go away.”
– Stephen Cosgrov, Hucklebug
“Nothing, no one, is too small to matter. What you do is going to make a difference.”
– Madeleine L’Engle, A Swiftly Tilting Planet
“Remember then that there is only one important time, and that time is now.”
― Jon J. Muth, The Three Questions
“It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done — then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
“The main thing to do is pay attention. Pay close attention to everything, notice what no one else notices. Then you’ll know what no one else knows, and that’s always useful.”
― Jeanne DuPrau, The City of Ember
“The trouble with anger is, it gets hold of you. And then you aren’t the master of yourself anymore. Anger is. And when anger is the boss, you get unintended consequences.”
― Jeanne Duprau, The City of Ember
“Normal is whatever you are.”
– Stephen Cosgrove, Leo the Lop
“When you’re feeling lonely and no one is around, remember to look inside yourself and a best friend will be found.”
– Stephen Cosgrove, Maynard’s Mermaid
“What the world fails to realize is that a villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told.”
― Chris Colfer, The Wishing Spell
“Whatever man imagines is possible.”
― Julie Andrews Edwards, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
“Let your curiosity run away with you. Know that beyond every ordinary explanation there is a deeper and more exciting discovery to be made.”
― Julie Andrews Edwards, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
“You can’t judge the many by the actions of the few.”
― Michael Buckley, The Fairy-Tale Detectives
“Nothing is lost. . .Everything is transformed.”
― Michael Ende, The Neverending Story
“Smart people learn from their mistakes. But the real sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others.”
― Brandon Mull, Fablehaven
“The human mind is incredible. It can do nothing without belief, yet practically anything with it.”
― Sylvia Engdahl, Enchantress from the Stars
“Sometimes when you’re different you just need a different song. We all can dance, when we find music that we love.”
― Giles Andreae, Giraffes Can’t Dance
“All by myself I have to go, with none to tell me what to do — all alone beside the streams and up the mountain-sides of dreams.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child’s Garden of Verses
“Sometimes things are too big for cheering up. Sometimes the best way to make things better is just to let yourself be sad for a little bit.”
― Lisa Graff, Absolutely Almost
“Sometimes you see what you want to see because it fits the picture you already have in your head. It’s hard to let go of those old pictures and see things as they are.”
― Tracy Holczer, The Secret Hum of a Daisy
“Believing takes practice.”
― Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time.
“We can’t take any credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts.”
― Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time: With Related Readings
“I don’t think a person is mature until he understands what a wonderful world he lives in and that a lifetime isn’t long enough to get to know it.”
– Carol Ryrie Brink, Two Are Better Than One
“When you have done a great many good things, you forget to speak of them. It is those who do very little who must talk of it.
– Virginia Sorensen, Miracles on Maple Hill
“The best way to treat obstacles is to use them as stepping-stones. Laugh at them, tread on them, and let them lead you to something better.”
– Enid Blyton, Mr Galliano’s Circus
“Leave something for someone but don’t leave someone for something.”
– Enid Blyton, Five on a Hike Together
“Whether or not you come out on top, finishing with grace is what makes you a real winner.”
– Vampirina at the Beach by Anne Marie Pace
“I’m planting a tree to teach me to gather strength from my deepest roots.”
– Andrea Koehle Jones, The Wish Trees
“There are a whole lot of things in this world of ours you haven’t even started wondering about yet.”
– Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach
“If most of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
“Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it”
– Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
“There’s no place like home.”
– The Wizard of OZ
“Today was a difficult day. Tomorrow will be better.”
– Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
“We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”
– Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
“It is when we are most lost that we sometimes find our truest friends.”
– Snow White by the Brothers Grimm
“Happiness shared is happiness doubled.”
– Old Turtle: Questions of the Heart by Douglas Wood
“People come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. We may all look different, act different and sound different…but don’t be fooled, we are all people.”
– Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers
“The greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.”
– Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
– Frances Hodgson Burnett
“Open your heart. Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart.”
– Kate DiCamillo, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
“”We must ask ourselves these questions as often as we dare. How will the world change if we do not question it?”
– Kate DiCamillo, The Magician’s Elephant
“Don’t we all live in our heads? Where else could we possibly exist? Our brains are the universe.”
– Kate DiCamillo, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
“I don’t pretend to be wise, but I am observing, and I see a great deal more than you’d imagine. I’m interested in other people’s experiences and inconsistencies, and, though I can’t explain, I remember and use them for my own benefit.”
– Louisa Alcott, Little Women
“Keep good company, read good books, love good things and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can.”
– Louisa May Alcott, Rose in Bloom
“Don’t try to comprehend with your mind. Your minds are very limited. Use your intuition.”
– Madeleine L’Engle, A Wind in the Door
“You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So… get on your way!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
“Remember that life’s a great balancing act.”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
“Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of Magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden — in all the places.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
“Thoughts — just mere thoughts — are as powerful as electric batteries — as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
― J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
“You just think lovely wonderful thoughts, and they lift you up in the air.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
“When there’s a smile in your heart, there’s no better time to start.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
“You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
― A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
“So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“Time is a gift, given to you, given to give you the time you need, the time you need to have the time of your life. ”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“Things which are equally bad are also equally good. Try to look at the bright side of things.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view. Until you climb inside of their skin and walk around in it.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
“Learning softens the heart and breeds gentleness and charity.”
― Mark Twain, The Prince and the Pauper
“It is the best way to write poetry, letting things come.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
“Life, with its rules, its obligations, and its freedoms, is like a sonnet: You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself.”
― Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
“Experiment is the mother of knowledge.”
― Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time: With Related Readings
“If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.”
― Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
“You must do something to make the world more beautiful.”
― Barbara Cooney, Miss Rumphius
“You can do it. You are brave and you are loved.”
― Tracy Holczer, The Secret Hum of a Daisy
“I believe in one day and someday and this perfect moment called Now.”
― Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming
“Even the silence has a story to tell you. Just listen. Listen.”
― Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming
“At some point, you just have to choose. And then be brave enough to stand up to the people who think you made the wrong choice.”
― Cynthia Lord, Half a Chance
“You can’t get where you’re going without being where you’ve been.”
― Lisa Graff, Absolutely Almost
“The more you pretend at being something, the closer you are to making it real. So just make sure you’re pretending the right things.”
― Terry Lynn Johnson, Ice Dogs
“Change is the nature of nature. For example, stars expand as they grow older. They grow from a star, to a red super-giant, to a supernova. When a massive star explodes at the end of its life, the explosion dispenses different elements-helium, carbon, oxygen, iron, nickel-across the universe, scattering stardust. That stardust now makes up the planets, including ours.”
― Michelle Cuevas, Beyond the Laughing Sky
“Be yourself and people will like you.”
― Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid
“Books loved anyone who opened them, they gave you security and friendship and didn’t ask for anything in return; they never went away, never, not even when you treated them badly.”
― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart
“You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”
— Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
“One of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to facts.”
― C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
– Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
“Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
— The Minpins by Roald Dahl
“There is nothing sweeter in this world than the sound of someone you love calling your name.”
— The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
“Awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew
“Look for the valleys, the green places, and fly through them. There will always be a way through.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew
“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew
“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!”
– Happy Birthday to You! by Dr. Seuss
“We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.”
– J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
“Inside all of us is Hope. Inside all of us is Fear. Inside all of us is Adventure. Inside all of us is – A Wild Thing.”
– Maurice Sendak: Where the Wild Things Are
“The most wonderful and the strongest things in the world, you know, are just the things which no one can see.”
― Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby
“Belonging to a place isn’t nearly as necessary as belonging to people you love and who love you and need you.”
― Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Velvet Room
“There is enough for all.”
― Robert Lawson, Rabbit Hill
“No matter how old a person gets, he’s never old in spring!”
― Elizabeth Enright, Return to Gone-Away
“There are different kinds of truth. And if our kind is more mature than theirs, it’s so only because we know that.”
― Sylvia Engdahl, Enchantress from the Stars
“If you want something you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you’re willing to risk failure.”
― Philip Pullman, Clockwork
“Imagination can take you Places – READ!”
― Brandon Mull, Fablehaven
“Whoever is diligent will soon be cheerful.”
― George MacDonald, The Princess and Curdie
“If you remain calm in the midst of great chaos, it is the surest guarantee the it will eventually subside.”
― Julie Andrews Edwards, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
“Have you noticed how nobody ever looks up? Nobody looks at chimneys, or trees against the sky, or the tops of buildings. Everybody just looks down at the pavement or their shoes. The whole world could pass them by and most people wouldn’t notice.”
― Julie Andrews Edwards, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
“Nothing is ever finished and done with in this world. You may think a seed was finished and done with when it falls like a dead thing into the earth; but when it puts forth leaves and flowers next spring you see your mistake.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse
“Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
“There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.”
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
“There is no gift like friendship. Remember this – when you become a young man. For your fate will turn on the first true friend you make.”
― Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook’s Hill
“Be brave. Courage is one thing that no one can ever take away from you.”
― Chris Colfer, The Wishing Spell
“It doesn’t matter how greatly you’ve been hurt or how much you’re hurting, it’s what you do with the pain that counts. You could cry for years or you could choose to learn and grow from it.”
― Chris Colfer, The Wishing Spell
“No matter what you do, you can never please everyone. And that was the hardest lesson to learn. In fact, I’m still learning it.”
― Chris Colfer, The Wishing Spell
“Even in the worst of situations – even when it seems no one in the world appreciates you – as long as you have hope, everything can get better.”
― Chris Colfer, The Wishing Spell
“Being different is the best part of all. With a little creativity, and a lot of dedication, any difference can be turned into something amazing. Our differences are our superpowers.”
― Cece Bell, El Deafo
“It certainly is a great joy to be alive.”
― Waldemar Bonsels, The Adventures of Maya the Bee
“True friends are always together in spirit.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince
“I am who I am and I have the need to be.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
“The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and storytellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
“What you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“I am sure there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things for us.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett , The Secret Garden
“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
