Kate Dicamillo Quotes

Flora reached out and grabbed hold of William Spiver's hand, and he held on to her. It was as if he were drowning and she were standing on solid ground. According to TERRIBLE THINGS! drowning people were desperate, out of their minds with fear. In their panic they could pull you, the rescuer, under, if you weren't careful. So Flora held on tightly to William Spiver. And he held on tightly back. ~ Kate DiCamillo

He felt a wonderful certainty. The impossible, he thought, the impossible is about to happen again. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Understand, I had absolutely no interest in writing; I wanted to be a Writer. ~ Kate DiCamillo

But I'm not ready to let Winn-Dixie go. ~ Kate DiCamillo

If the wishes came true, they came true in terrible ways. Wishes were dangerous things. That was the idea you got from fairy tales. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I have a Bachelor of Arts in English, which means I had a lot of formal training in reading. ~ Kate DiCamillo

The human heart was dark beyond all reckoning; it also likened the heart to a river. And further, it said, If we are not careful, that river can carry us along in its hidden currents of want and anger and need, and transform each of us into the very criminal we fear. ~ Kate DiCamillo

A squirrel flies in," said Dr. Meescham. "This I did not expect at all. It is what I love about life, that things happen which I do not expect. When I was a girl in Blundermeecen, we left the window open for this very reason, even in the winter. We did it because we believed something wonderful might make its way to us through the open window. Did wonderful things find us? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But tonight it has happened! Something wonderful!" Dr. Meescham clapped her hands. "A window has been left open. A squirrel flies in the window. The heart of an old woman rejoices! ~ Kate DiCamillo

Magic is always impossible ... It begins with the impossible and ends with the impossible and is impossible in between. That is why it's magic. ~ Kate DiCamillo

But in truth,' said Bull, 'we are going nowhere. That my friend, is the irony of our constant movement. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I have learned how to love. And it's a terrible thing. I'm broken. My heart is broken. Help me. ~ Kate DiCamillo

But she couldn't help it. She did hope. She was hoping. She had been hoping all along. ~ Kate DiCamillo

And he told himself, reader, that it was the cloth that he desired and not the light. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Truly, I did not intend to harm you, he said. That was never my intention. ~ Kate DiCamillo

But, alas, he never really belonged in either place, the sad fate, I am afraid, of those whose hearts break and then mend in crooked ways. ~ Kate DiCamillo

It's different for everyone she said, you find out on your own. But in the meantime, you got to remember, you can't always judge people by the things they done. You got to judge them by what they're doing now. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Oh, my goodness," said Louisiana. "I'm just all filled up with feathers and regrets. And fears. I have a lot of fears. ~ Kate DiCamillo

That is surely the truth, at least for now. But perhaps you have not noticed: the truth is forever changing. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Where had Mrs. Borkowski's should gone?

(p. 139) ~ Kate DiCamillo

I will be brave, thought Despereaux. I will try to be brave like a knight in shining armour. I will be brave for the Princess Pea. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Rats have a sense of humor. Rats, in fact think the world is very funny. And they are right, dear reader. They are right. ~ Kate DiCamillo

The rabbit felt dizzy. He wondered for a minute, if his head had cracked open again, if he was dreaming.
"Look, Mama," said Maggie, "look at him."
"I see him," said the woman.
She dropped the umbrella. She put her hand on the locket that hung around her neck. And Edward saw then that it was not a locket at all.
It was a watch. It was his watch.
"Edward?" said Abilene.
Yes, said Edward.
"Edward," she said again, certain this time.
Yes, said Edward, yes, yes, yes.
It's me. ~ Kate DiCamillo

It was the strangest things, how happiness came out of nowhere and inflated your soul. ~ Kate DiCamillo

If you have no intention of loving or being loved, the whole journey is pointless. ~ Kate DiCamillo

It is all gone, though Peter. All of it is gone! And there is no way to get it back.
'Eat,' said Leo Matienne again, very gently.
Peter looked the truth of what he had lost full in the face.
And then he ate. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Where's your dress? ~ Kate DiCamillo

Sometimes, when the light starts to fade, I get a terrible feeling of loneliness, like maybe I am the only person in the world. ~ Kate DiCamillo

And hope is like love ... a ridiculous, wonderful, powerful thing. ~ Kate DiCamillo

You can't always judge people by the things they done. You got to judge them by what they are doing now. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Once there was a princess who was very beautiful. She shone bright as the stars on a moonless night. But what difference did it make that she was beautiful? None. No difference."
Why did it make no difference?" asked Abilene.
Because," said Pellegrina, "She was a princess who loved no one and cared nothing for love, even though there were many who loved her. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I didn't know anything about writing a screenplay, but somehow I ended up rewriting a screenplay. ~ Kate DiCamillo

A what? said Willie May. ~ Kate DiCamillo

smiled back. Winn-Dixie ~ Kate DiCamillo

Flora hated the phrase "correct me if I'm wrong." In her experience, people only said it when they knew they were right. ~ Kate DiCamillo

She said the words, and then she had a strange moment of seeing them, hanging there over her head.
"You're going to vacuum up that squirrel!"
There is just no predicting what kind of sentences you might say, thought Flora. For instance, who would ever think you would shout, "You're going to vacuum up that squirrel!"? ~ Kate DiCamillo

If the world held magic powerful enough to make the elephant appear, then there must exist, too, magic in equal measure, magic powerful enough to undo what had been done. ~ Kate DiCamillo

It is a bad thing to have love and nowhere to put it. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Farewell is a word that, in any language, is full of sorrow. It is a word that promises nothing. ~ Kate DiCamillo

He was reading from the beginning so that he could get to the end, where the reader was assured that the knight and the fair maiden lived together happily ever after. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I'm at the mercy of whatever character comes into my head. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I have a deep gratitude that Ida B exists. ~ Kate DiCamillo

How many times, Edward wondered, would he have to leave without getting the chance to say goodbye? ~ Kate DiCamillo

Reader, do you believe that there is such a thing as happily ever after? Or, like Despereaux, have you, too, begun to question the possibility of happy endings? ~ Kate DiCamillo

Light is precious in a world so dark. ~ Kate DiCamillo

He'll be dead soon. He can't live', said the father.
But reader, he did live.
This is the story. ~ Kate DiCamillo

thought. "You want some macaroni ~ Kate DiCamillo

That squid is a villain," said Flora out loud. "He needs to be vanquished. He's eating a boat. And he's going to eat all of the people on the boat."
"Yes, well, loneliness makes us do terrible things," said Dr. Meescham. "And that is why the picture is there, to remind me of this. Also, because the other Dr. Meescham painted it when he was young and joyful."
Good grief, thought Flora. What did he paint when he was old and depressed? ~ Kate DiCamillo

Things are not at all what they seem to be: oh no, not at all. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Gloria put a bowl of stew in Peter's hands. "Eat," she said.

Peter raised the spoon to his lips. He chewed. He swallowed.

It had been a long time since he had eaten anything besides tiny fish and old bread.

And so when Peter had his first bite of stew, it overwhelmed him. The warmth of it, the richness of it, knocked him backward; it was as if a gentle hand had pushed him when he was not expecting it. Everything he had lost came flooding back: the garden, his father, his mother, his sister, the promises that he had made and could not keep.

"What's this?" said Gloria Matienne. "The boy is crying."

"Shhh," said Leo. He put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Shhh. Don't worry, Peter. Everything will be good. All will be well. We will do together whatever it is that needs to be done. But for now, you must eat."

Peter nodded. He raised his spoon. Again he chewed and swallowed, and again he was overcome. He could not help it. He could not stop the tears; they flowed down his cheeks and into the bowl. "It is a very good stew, Madam Matienne. he managed to say. "Truly, it is an excellent stew. ~ Kate DiCamillo

What matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks up. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Furlough took him on a tour of the castle to demonstrate the art of scurrying. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Life was so short; so many beautiful things slipped away. ~ Kate DiCamillo

For children: I'm writing a picture book about the Big Dipper and a novel about a cricket, a firefly and a vole. For grownups: I'm writing poems. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Who can say what astonishments are hidden inside the most mundane being? ~ Kate DiCamillo

All words at all times, true or false, whispered or shouted, are clues to the workings of the human heart. ~ Kate DiCamillo

You are down there alone, the stars seemed to say to him. And we are up here, in our constellations, together. ~ Kate DiCamillo

He must, he realized, know somewhere, deep inside him, more things than he had ever dreamed of. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Once upon a time, he said out loud to the darkness. He said these words because they were the best, the most powerful words that he knew and just the saying of them comforted him. ~ Kate DiCamillo

READING SHOULD NOT BE PRESENTED TO CHILDREN AS A CHORE OR A DUTY. IT SHOULD BE OFFERED TO THEM AS A PRECIOUS GIFT. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I believe, sometimes, that the whole world has an aching heart. - Gloria Dump ~ Kate DiCamillo

What is?', he said. 'What if?' is a question that belongs to magic. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I was born in Philadelphia and currently live in Minneapolis. I write for both children and adults. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I have already been loved," said Edward. "I have been loved by a girl named Abilene. I have been loved by a fisherman and his wife and a hobo and his dog. I have been loved by a boy who played the harmonica and by a girl who died. Don't talk to me about love," he said. "I have known love. ~ Kate DiCamillo

If memory serves me correctly, and it doesn't always, Kate [DiCamillo] and I met in the fall of 2001 at the former Figlio's restaurant in Minneapolis. We were laughing within a minute of meeting - always a good sign. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Never use anybody else's power, but always use yours. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Perhaps," said the man, "you would like to be lost with us. I have found it much more agreeable to be lost in the company of others. ~ Kate DiCamillo

During the night, while Bull and Lucy slept, Edward, with ever-open eyes, stared up at the constellations. He said their names, and then he said the names of the people who loved him. He started with Abilene, and then went on to Nellie and Lawrence and from there to Bull and Lucy, and then he ended again with Abilene: Abilene, Nellie, Lawrence, Bull, Lucy, Abilene.
See? Edward told Pellegrina. I am not like the princess. I know about love. ~ Kate DiCamillo

he went down the stairs, "no choice, no choice, ~ Kate DiCamillo

Stall! Delay! Obfuscate! "Let's," said Flora. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Do you think everybody misses somebody? Like I miss my mama?" "Mmmm-hmmm," said Gloria. She closed her eyes. "I believe, sometimes, that the whole world has an aching heart. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Did you think that rats do not have hearts? Wrong. All living things have a heart. And the heart of any living thing can be broken. ~ Kate DiCamillo

It seems to be that way with most things. No one to do the really disagreeable jobs except oneself. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I thought I was going nowhere. Now I can see there was a pattern. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Bink," said Gollie, "I must inform you that you are giving a home to a truly unremarkable fish."
"I love him" said Bink. ~ Kate DiCamillo

There are hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I intended only lilies. That was my intention: a bouquet of lilies. - The Magician ~ Kate DiCamillo

So much happiness!" said Dr. Meescham. "This is how it was when I was a girl in Blundermeecen. Like this. Always opening the door in the middle of the night and finding the face of someone you wanted to see. Well, not always. Sometimes it was the face of someone you did not want to see.
But always, always in Blundermeecen, you opened the door because you could not stop hoping that on the other side of it would be the face of someone you loved." Dr. Meescham looked at William Spiver and then at Tootie. She smiled. "And maybe, too, the face of someone you did not yet know but might come to love. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Mig watched her father walk away, the red table cloth billowing out behind him. He left his daughter. And, as you already know, he did not look back. Not even once. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Mon Dieu, look, look," says Antoinette. "He lives. He lives! And he seems such the happy mouse."
"Forgiven," whispers Lester.
"Cripes," says Furlough, "unbelievable."
"Just so," says the threadmaster, Hovis, smiling. "Just so."
And, reader, it is just so.
Isn't it? ~ Kate DiCamillo

He was agitated for some reason that he could not name. (page 35) ~ Kate DiCamillo

It is truly excellent to have someone believe in you and your ability to write. But I think it is just as helpful to have people who don't believe in you, people who mock you, people who doubt you, people who enrage you. Fortunately, there is never a shortage of this type of person in the world ... write for yourself. Write for the story. And write, also, for all of the people who doubt you. Write for all those people who are not brave enough to do this grand and wondrous thing themselves. Let them motivate you. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Open your heart. Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart. ~ Kate DiCamillo

All things are possible. When I was a girl in Blundermeecen, the miraculous happened every day. Or every other day. Or every third day. Actually, sometimes it did not happen at all, even on the third day. But still, we expected it. You see what I'm saying? Even when it didn't happen, we were expecting it. We knew the miraculous would come. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Furlough?" He said.
"What?" said the first hood irritably.
Despereaux shuddered. His own brother was delivering him to the dungeon. His heart stopped beating and shrunk to a small, cold, disbelieving pebble. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Flora had decided that this was part of the reason her parents had divorced. Not the noise of the writing, but the writing itself. Specifically, the writing of romance. Flora ~ Kate DiCamillo

Edward? Yes yes yes. It is me. Edward thought. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Tongue after you lose a tooth. Time after time, my mind kept going to that empty spot, the spot where I felt like she should be. When I told Gloria Dump about Otis and how he got arrested, she laughed so hard she had to grab hold of her false teeth so they wouldn't fall out of her mouth. ~ Kate DiCamillo

There's a use for everything and everything has it's use. ~ Kate DiCamillo

I am busier now than I ever imagined I would be, but I feel blessed in that I have found what I am supposed to be doing with my life. It's wonderful to tell stories and have people listen to them. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Despereaux marveled at his own bravery.
He admired his own defiance.
And then, reader, he fainted. ~ Kate DiCamillo

My heart, thought Edward, my heart is broken. ~ Kate DiCamillo

And Edward was surprised to discover that he was listening. Before, when Abilene had talked to him, everything had seemed so boring, so pointless. But now, the stories Nellie told struck him as the most important thing in the world and he listened as if his life depended on what she said. (page 69) ~ Kate DiCamillo

Writing is seeing. It is paying attention. ~ Kate DiCamillo

She was terribly pleased, because she had always, secretly, deep within her heart, believed that she could fly. And now here she was, doing what she had long suspected she could do, and she could not deny that it was gratifying in the extreme. ~ Kate DiCamillo

But let's not speak of what might have been. Let us speak instead of what is. You are whole. ~ Kate DiCamillo

Never in his life had Edward been cradled like a baby. Abilene had not done it. Nor had Nellie. And most certainly, Bull had not. It was a singular sensation to be held so gently and yet so fiercely, to be stared down at with so much love. Edward felt the whole of his china body flood with warmth. (page 128) ~ Kate DiCamillo

them back. Sometimes, I hit them first." "Oh, ~ Kate DiCamillo

I have brought you half of my pancakes," said Gollie.
"And I have removed one of my outrageous socks," said Bink. "It's a compromise bonanza! ~ Kate DiCamillo

Not much goes on in the mind of a squirrel.
Huge portions of what is loosely termed "the squirrel brain" are given over to one thought: food.
The average squirrel cogitation goes something like this: I wonder what there is to eat. ~ Kate DiCamillo

The world was beautiful. It surprised me, how beautiful it kept on insisting on being. In spite of all the lies, it was beautiful. ~ Kate DiCamillo