Tove Jansson

“Then -- they saw the Groke. Everybody saw her. She sat motionless on the sandy path at the bottom of the steps and stared at them with round, expressionless eyes.She was not particularly big and didn't look dangerous either, but your let that she was terribly evil and would wait for ever. And that was awful.Nobody plucked up enough courage to attack. She sat there for a while, and then slid away into the darkness. But where she had been sitting the ground was frozen!”

“Christmas always rustled. It rustled every time, mysteriously, with silver and gold paper, tissue paper and a rich abundance of shiny paper, decorating and hiding everything and giving a feeling of reckless extravagance.”

“He was the owner of the moonlight on the ground, he fell in love with the most beautiful of the trees, he made wreaths of leaves and strung them around his neck.”

“It was the winter of war, in 1939. It felt completely pointless to try to create pictures... I suddenly felt an urge to write down something that was to begin with 'Once upon a time.'”

“Someone who eats pancakes and jam can't be so awfully dangerous. You can talk to him.”

“Not one adventure in a whole day," said Sniff, who was taking his turn at steering now the current was slower. "Just grey banks and grey banks, and not even an adventure.""I think it's very adventurous to float down a winding river," said Moomintroll. "You never know what you'll meet round the next corner. You always want adventures, Sniff, and when they come you're so frightened you don't know what to do.""Well, I'm not a lion," said Sniff reproachfully. "I like small adventures. Just the right size.”

“The lamp sizzled as it burned. It made everything seem close and safe, a little family circle they all knew and trusted. Outside this circle lay everything that was strange and frightening, and the darkness seemed to reach higher and higher and further and further away, right to the end of the world.”

“כל הגברים הם חברים שלעולם לא יעזבו זה את זה בשעת צרה. חבר לא סולח, הוא פשוט שוכח – נשים סולחות על הכול אבל לעולם לא שוכחות. להיות סולח זה מאוד לא נעים.”

“אתה אף פעם לא יכול להיות חופשי באמת אם אתה מעריץ מישהו יותר מדי.”

“לפעמים עדיף להסתכל על דברים מאשר להחזיק בהם... בעלות פירושה חרדה והרבה תיקים לסחוב.”

“תיאטרון הוא סוג הבית החשוב ביותר בעולם, כי שם מראים לאנשים מה הם יכולים להיות אילו היו רוצים ומה הם היו רוצים להיות אילו היו מעזים ומה הם באמת.”

“תחילה חשבתי לצייר על הדף שהיה מונח לפניי; אבל פתאום ירדה עליי השראה ממין אחר, תחושה שלא הכרתי עד אז – רצון לכתוב (...) בעוד אני מהרהרת ציירה ידי מבלי משׂים את מומינטרול הזעיר והחביב שלי (...) ואז בעוד אני מביטה בו קראתי בקול: מצאתי! אתה, מומינטרול שלי, תהיה גיבור סיפורי.”

“זה היה חורף המלחמה, בשנת 1939. זה הרגיש לגמרי חסר טעם לנסות ליצור תמונות... פתאום הרגשתי דחף לכתוב משהו שהיה מתחיל ב'היה היה פעם'.”

“We sat talking on a rock. The air was filled with the tang of sea-weed and of something else that could only have been the ocean smell. I felt so happy that I wasn't even afraid it wouldn't last.”

“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.”

“We've decided to wake a miss for you because you are nice. We want a booby as roomful as ours."Everybody had seen the Hobgoblin laugh, but nobody believed he could smile. He was so happy that you could see it all over him -- from his hat to his boots! Without a word he waved his cloak over the grass -- and behold! Once more the garden was filled with a pink light and there on the grass before them lay a twin to the King's Ruby -- the Queen's Ruby.”

“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.”

“Malander had an idea and was trying to work it out, but it would take him time. Sometimes people never saw things clearly until it was too late and they no longer had the strength to start again. Or else they forgot their idea along the way and didn't even realise that they forgotten.”

“Making a whole is very important. Most people paint things and forget the whole.”

“Thingumy whispered something again. The Hemulen nodded. "It's a secret," he said. "Thingumy and Bob think the Contents is the most beautiful thing in the world, but the Groke just thinks it's the most expensive."The Snork nodded many times and wrinkled his forehead. "This is a difficult case," he said. Thingumy and Bob have reasoned correctly, but they have acted wrongly. Right is right.”