52 quotes
Some of my youthful readers are developing wonderful imaginations. This pleases me.
Introduction to The Lost Princess of Oz (1917)
Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
I never deal in transformations, for they are not honest, and no respectable sorceress likes to make things appear to be what they are not.
The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)
When I was young I longed to write a great novel that should win me fame. Now that I am getting old my first book is written to amuse children.
Personal inscription on a copy of Mother Goose in Prose (1897)
I think the world is like a great mirror, and reflects our lives just as we ourselves look upon it.
Aunt Jane’s Nieces and Uncle John (1911)
The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and therefore he took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
It is a callous age; we have seen so many marvels that we are ashamed to marvel more; the seven wonders of the world have become seven thousand wonders.
To destroy an offender cannot benefit society so much as to redeem him.
The Flying Girl (1911)
I have learned to regard fame as a will-o-the-wisp which, when caught, is not worth the possession; but to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward.
Personal inscription on a copy of Mother Goose in Prose (1897)
"I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Woodman; "for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world."
The absurd and legendary devil is the enigma of the Church.
The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer (1890)
"They tell me meat is going up, but if I can manage to catch you I'm sure it will soon be going down."
Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder-tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
I shall take the heart... for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.
lines for the Tinman in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
"If any of us takes a rest,
We'll be arrested sure,
And get no restitution
'Cause the rest we must endure."
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913)
An eastern contemporary, with a grain of wisdom in its wit, says that "when the whites win a fight, it is a victory, and when the Indians win it, it is a massacre."
The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer (1890)
Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
"If I'm going to starve, I'll do it all at once—not by degrees."
"In all this world there is nothing so beautiful as a happy child," says good old Santa Claus; and if he had his way the children would all be beautiful, for all would be happy.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902)
Familiarity with any great thing removes our awe of it.
The Master Key (1901)