175 Quotes by Richard Adams

It was not long before Fiver found what they were looking for.

Bigwig, as he had predicted, was getting his head bitten off.

The rabbits mingled naturally. They did not talk for talking’s sake, in the artificial manner that human beings – and sometimes even their dogs and cats – do. But this did not mean that they were not communicating; merely that they were not communicating by talking.

You can’t call your life your own: and in return you have safety, if it’s worth having at the price you pay.

That wasn’t why they destroyed the warren. It was just because we were in their way. They killed us to suit themselves.

Why, all of you,” answered the other, surprised. “You don’t want to stay out in the rain, do you?

He was part of my dream, of course – but then I was part of his dream, too. Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass.

Are you angry, El-ahrairah?’ asked Lord Frith. “‘No, my lord,’ replied El-ahrairah, ‘I am not angry. But I have learned that with creatures one loves, suffering is not the only thing for which one may pity them. A rabbit who does not know when a gift has made him safe is poorer than a slug, even though he may think otherwise himself.

Some say that the Black Rabbit hates us and wants our destruction. But the truth is – or so they taught me – that he, too, serves Lord Frith and does no more than his appointed task.