No one who is good can ever be ugly.

— Roald Dahl

She resented being told constantly that she was stupid, when she knew she wasn't.

— Roald Dahl

So Matilda's strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea.

— Roald Dahl

So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.

— Roald Dahl

Some people when they have taken too much and have been driven beyond the point of endurance, simply crumble and give up. There are others, though they are not many, who will for some reason always be unconquerable. You meet them in time of war and also in time of peace. They have an indomitable spirit and nothing, neither pain nor torture nor threat of death, will cause them to give up.

— Roald Dahl

So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install lovely bookshelf on the wall. Then fill the shelves with lots of books.

— Roald Dahl

Thank goodness we don'ty meet many people like [Miss Turnbull] in this world, although they do exist and all of us are likely to come across at least one of them in a lifetime. If you ever do, you should behave as you would if you met an enraged rhinoceros out in the bush--climb up the nearest tree and stay there until it has gone away.

— Roald Dahl

The act of copulation is like that of picking the nose. It's all right to be doing it yourself, but it is a singularly unattractive spectacle for the onlooker.

— Roald Dahl

The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives. She went on olden-day sailing ships with Joseph Conrad. She went to Africa with Ernest Hemingway and to India with Rudyard Kipling. Furthermore, she travelled all over the world while sitting in her little room in an English village.

— Roald Dahl

The life of a writer is absolute hell compared to the life of a businessman. The writer has to force himself to work He has to make his own hours and if he doesn't go to his desk at all there is nobody to scold him... A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.

— Roald Dahl