Quote

It’s only the sea,’ said Moomintroll. ‘Every wave that dies on the beach sings a little song to a shell. But you mustn’t go inside because it’s a labyrinth and you may never come out again.

Tove Jansson

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Tove Jansson
Age: 86 †
Born: 1914
Born: August 9
Died: 2001
Died: June 27
Cartoonist
Illustrator
Novelist
Painter
Writer
Helsingfors
Tove Marika Jansson
Tove M. Jansson
Littles
Shell
May
Shells
Little
Beach
Come
Wave
Every
Sea
Never
Inside
Mustn
Dies
Labyrinth
Song
Sings

More quotes by Tove Jansson

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... 'I've been doing everything for an awfully long time, and I've seen and lived as hard as I could, and it's been unbelievable, I tell you, unbelievable. But now I have the feeling everything's gliding away from me, and I don't remember, and I don't care, and yet now is right when I need it!'. [pp. 84-85]
Tove Jansson
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You can't ever be really free if you admire somebody too much.
Tove Jansson
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Why are you in such a rush? Sophia asked, and her grandmother answered that it was a good idea to do things before you forgot that they had to be done.
Tove Jansson
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And all you can do is just read, she said. She raised her voice an screamed, You just read and read and read! Then she threw herself down on the table and wept.
Tove Jansson
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Everything's much too big here,' thought Moominmamma. 'Or perhaps I'm too small.
Tove Jansson
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One makes a trip by day, but by night one sets out on a journey.
Tove Jansson
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It was a particularly good evening to begin a book.
Tove Jansson
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I'll have to calm down a bit. Or else I'll burst with happiness
Tove Jansson
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You can't always be friendly. It's impossible, there isn't the time.
Tove Jansson
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I want your first trip to be with me. I want to show you cities and landscapes and teach you how to look at things in new ways and how to get along in places you don't already know inside out. I want to put some life in you.
Tove Jansson
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Quite, quite,' she thought with a little sigh. 'It's always like this in their adventures. To save and be saved. I wish somebody would write a story sometime about the people who warm up the heroes afterward.
Tove Jansson
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I mean, anyone can let Danger out but the really clever thing is finding somewhere for it to go afterwards.
Tove Jansson
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Lie on the bridge and watch the water flowing past. Or run, or wade through the swamp in your red boots. Or roll yourself up and listen to the rain falling on the roof. It's very easy to enjoy yourself.
Tove Jansson
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There's no need to imagine that you're a wondrous beauty, because that's what you are.
Tove Jansson
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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.
Tove Jansson
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One can't be too dangerous, if they like to eat pancakes. Especially with jam on it.
Tove Jansson
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Everyone must imagine his own snakes because no one else's snakes can ever be as awful.
Tove Jansson
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Someone who eats pancakes and jam can't be so awfully dangerous. You can talk to him.
Tove Jansson
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...by and by a change came: I started to muse about the shape of my nose. I put my trivial surroundings aside and mused more and more about myself, and I found this to be a bewitching occupation. I stopped asking and longed instead to speak of my thoughts and feelings. Alas, there was no one besides myself who found me interesting.
Tove Jansson
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I'm not sure I would have ever started to draw, let alone write, if my childhood hadn't been so happy. It was a mixture of comfort and adventure. An excellent mixture!
Tove Jansson