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"Beautiful things may be admired, if not loved," asserted the Tin Man. "Flowers are beautiful, for instance, but we are not inclined to marry them. Duty, on the contrary, is a bugle call to action, whether you are inclined to act, or not. In this case, I obey the bugle call of duty."

— L. Frank Baum The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918)

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More quotes by L. Frank Baum

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)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: L. Frank Baum (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.