Ations By Shel Quotes

Never explain what you do. It speaks for itself. You only muddle it by talking about it. ~ Shel Silverstein

Did you hear 'bout Ticklish Tom? He got tickled by his mom. Wiggled and giggled and fell on the floor, ... And all the more that he kept gigglin', All the more folks kept ticklin'. He shrieked and screamed and rolled around, Laughed his way right out of town. Through the country down the road, He got tickled by a toad ... Giggling, rolling on his back He rolled on the railroad track. Rumble, rumble, whistle, roar- Tom ain't ticklish any more. ~ Shel Silverstein

THE BAGPIPE WHO DIDN'T SAY NO
It was nine o'clock at midnight at a quarter after three
When a turtle met a bagpipe on the shoreside by the sea,
And the turtle said, "My dearie,
May I sit with you? I'm weary."
And the bagpipe didn't say no.
Said the turtle to the bagpipe, "I have walked this lonely shore,
I have talked to waves and pebbles--but I've never loved before.
Will you marry me today, dear?
Is it 'No' you're going to say dear?"
But the bagpipe didn't say no.

Said the turtle to his darling, "Please excuse me if I stare,
But you have the plaidest skin, dear,
And you have the strangest hair.
If I begged you pretty please, love,
Could I give you just one squeeze, love?"
And the bagpipe didn't say no.

Said the turtle to the bagpipe, "Ah, you love me. Then confess!
Let me whisper in your dainty ear and hold you to my chest."
And he cuddled her and teased her
And so lovingly he squeezed her.
And the bagpipe said, "Aaooga."

Said the turtle to the bagpipe, "Did you honk or bray or neigh?
For 'Aaooga' when your kissed is such a heartless thing to say.
Is it that I have offended?
Is it that our love is ended?"
And the bagpipe didn't say no.

Said the turtle to the bagpipe, "Shall i leave you, darling wife?
Shall i waddle off to Woedom? Shall i crawl out of your life?
Shall I move, depart ~ Shel Silverstein

She had blue skin,
And so did he.
He kept it hid
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life through,
Then passed right by-
And never knew. ~ Shel Silverstein

If you are a dreamer come sit by my fire, for we have some flax golden tails to spin, come in, come in. ~ Shel Silverstein

If you are a dreamer come in
If you are a dreamer a wisher a liar
A hoper a pray-er a magic-bean-buyer
If youre a pretender com sit by my fire
For we have some flax golden tales to spin
Come in!
Come in! ~ Shel Silverstein

EARLY BIRD
Oh, if you're a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If you're a bird, be an early early bird
But if you're a worm, sleep late. ~ Shel Silverstein

I made myself a snowball As perfect as can be. I thought I'd keep it as a pet, And let it sleep with me. I made it some pajamas And a pillow for it's head. Then last night it ran away, But first - It wet the bed. ~ Shel Silverstein

If there is a book you want to read but isn`t written yet,write it. ~ Shel Silverstein

If you want to marry me, here's what you'll have to do:
You must learn how to make a perfect chicken-dumpling stew.
And you must sew my holey socks,
And soothe my troubled mind,
And develop the knack for scratching my back,
And keep my shoes spotlessly shined.
And while I rest you must rake up the leaves,
And when it is hailing and snowing
You must shovel the walk ... and be still when I talk,
And-hey-where are you going? ~ Shel Silverstein

I didn't do it
That's a lie
I didn't do it
No, not I
I didn't do it
Hear me cry
I didn't do it
Hope to die
I didn't do it
I'm not that bad
But if I did ...
Would you be mad? ~ Shel Silverstein

Pirate Dreams
Needles and pins, Needles and pins,
Sew me a sail to catch me the wind.
Sew me a sail strong as the gale,
Carpenter, bring out your hammers and nails.
Hammers and nails, hammers and nails,
Build me a boat to go chasing the whales.
Chasing the whales, sailing the blue
Find me a captain and sign me a crew.
Captain and crew, captain and crew,
Take me, oh take me to anywhere new. ~ Shel Silverstein

If you're behind the times, they won't notice you. If you're right in tune with them, you're no better than they are, so they won't care much for you. Be just a little ahead of them. ~ Shel Silverstein

What did the carrot say to the wheat? Lettuce rest, I'm feeling beet. ~ Shel Silverstein

And the tree was happy ~ Shel Silverstein

Josh: "Mutley, my dog."
Shel: "I am not getting in the car with that."
Josh: "Yes, you are."
Shel: "No, I'm not. He's huge."
Josh: "He's harmless."
Shel: "Like his owner?"
Josh: "Oh, no, he's harmless. I'm not. ~ Ella Frank

I'd rather play tennis than go to the dentist.
I'd rather play soccer than go to the doctor.
I'd rather play Hurk than go to work.
Hurk? Hurk? What's Hurk?
I don't know, but it must be better than work. ~ Shel Silverstein

I said, "I'll take the T-bone steak." A soft voice mooed, "Oh wow." And I looked up and realized The waitress was a cow. I cried, "Mistake
forget the the steak. I'll take the chicken then." I heard a cluck
'twas just my luck The busboy was a hen. I said, "Okay no, fowl today. I'll have the seafood dish." Then I saw through the kitchen door The cook
he was a fish. I screamed, "Is there anyone workin' here Who's an onion or a beet? No? Your're sure? Okay then friends, A salad's what I'll eat." They looked at me. "Oh,no," they said, "The owner is a cabbage head. ~ Shel Silverstein

There are no happy endings.
Endings are the saddest part,
So just give me a happy middle
And a very happy start. ~ Shel Silverstein

everything isn't everything ~ Shel Silverstein

There's a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire
He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.
With his seat in the meat
And his face in the fish
And his big hairy paws
In the buttery dish,
He's nibbling the noodles,
And munching the rice,
He's slurping the soda,
He's licking the ice.
And he lets out a roar
If you open the door.
And it gives me a scare
To know he's in there
That Polary Bear
In our Fridgitydaire. ~ Shel Silverstein

So I'm all of love that could make it today. ~ Shel Silverstein

Instead of tug o' war, let's play hug o' war. ~ Shel Silverstein

God says to me with a kind of smile, "Hey how would you like to be God awhile And steer the world?" ... "How much do I get? What time is lunch?" ... "Gimme back that wheel," says God. "I don't think you're quite ready yet." ~ Shel Silverstein

FROZEN DREAM
I'll take the dream I had last night
And put it in my freezer,
So someday long and far away
When I'm an old grey geezer,
I'll take it out and thaw it out,
This lovely dream I've frozen,
And boil it up and sit me down
A dip my old cold toes in. ~ Shel Silverstein

Earthly life is a temporary phenomenon only", Jesus said thoughtfully. "Death comes sooner or later to all mortals. It is honour that is the eternal thing. I asked you not about your life, but about your honour and your good name. ~ Viktor Shel

I love you, Shel. Fuck, but I didn't think it was possible to love you more than I did years ago, but I was wrong…so fucking wrong. ~ Aurora Rose Reynolds

Imagine - four years you could have spent travelling around Europe meeting people, or going to the Far East of Africa or India, meeting people, exchanging ideas, reading all you wanted to anyway, and instead I wasted it at Roosevelt. ~ Shel Silverstein

INVISIBLE BOY
And here we see the invisible boy
In his lovely invisible house,
Feeding a piece of invisible cheese
To a little invisible mouse.
Oh, what a beautiful picture to see!
Will you draw an invisible picture for me? ~ Shel Silverstein

Underneath my outside face There's a face that none can see. A little less smiley, A little less sure, But a whole lot more like me. ~ Shel Silverstein

Make it so good and so clear that it doesn't need any further explanation. ~ Shel Silverstein

Josh: "Are there any rules to this deal I should know about?"
Shel: "Don't make me want to keep you."
Josh: "Well then, don't make me want to be kept. ~ Ella Frank

Standing is stupid,
Crawling's a curse,
Skipping is silly,
Walking is worse.
Hopping is hopeless,
Jumping's a chore,
Sitting is senseless,
Leaning's a bore.
Running's ridiculous,
Jogging's insane-
Guess I'll go upstairs and
Lie down again. ~ Shel Silverstein

There was this book Dad used to read to me every night called "The Giving Tree." It was a really good book, but the back of it had a picture of the author, this guy named Shel Silverstein.
But Shel Silverstein looks more like a burglar or a pirate than a guy who should be writing books for kids.
Dad must have known that picture kind of freaked me out, because one night after I got out of bed, Dad said: "IF YOU GET OUT OF BED AGAIN TONIGHT, YOU'LL PROBABLY RUN INTO SHEL SILVERSTEIN IN THE HALLWAY."
That really did the trick, Ever since then, I STILL don't get out of bed at night, even if I really need to use the bathroom. ~ Jeff Kinney