William Steig

“Why had he wanted to be rich, or to feel rich? Was he an unhappy mouse before? Didn't he see the King himself often looking sad? Was anyone completely happy?”

“The world was all magic, and he had a special bottle of it in his right hand.”

“To tell the truth, I don't read children's books. I'm an adult. I just write them.”

“I've always despised old people. I got angry at my father when he began to show signs of age.”

“Why did the world go on being so beautiful in spite of the ugliness he had experienced? The lake was beautiful, serenely beautiful. The forest was beautiful, greenly beautiful. Lake and forest, the whole shimmering world was painfully beautiful. He loved this world, but he was too hurt to enjoy it.”

“Oh, Life, I am yours. Whatever it is you want of me, I am ready to give.”

“I think I feel a little differently than other people do. For some reason I've never felt grown up.”

“People are no damned good.”

“He was able to love them again, but he loved them now in a wiser way, knowing their weakness.”

“The stubbornness of his character stood him now in good stead. He refused to consider himself defeated.”