305 Quotes by Tove Jansson

No well-bred person goes ashore on someone else's island when there's no one home. But if they put up a sign, then you do it anyway, because it's a slap in the face

It was a long time before the Snork came back with the wood. "Well, there you are at last," said his sister."It took quite a time, said the Snork, "because, of course, I had to find pieces that were all exactly the same length.""Is he always so particular?" asked Snufkin."He was born like that," said the Snork Maiden.

Listen," said the Hemulen. "I was born bald on top and really I get along very well.

Smell is important. It reminds a person of all the things he's been through; it is a sheath of memories and security.

What has happened now is that I’ve fallen madly in love with a woman. And it seems to me so absolutely natural and genuine - there’s nothing problematic about it at all. I just feel proud and uncontrollably glad. These last weeks have been like one long dance of rich adventure, tenderness, intensity - an expedition into new domains of great simplicity and beauty.

And here I sit with my stamps in a complete muddle, and nobody has bothered to tell me what it's all about.""Listen now, Hemul," said Snufkin slowly and clearly. "It's about a comet that is going to collide with the earth tomorrow.""Collide?" said the Hemulen. "Has that anything to do with stamp-collecting?

Meanwhile the Hemulen was arranging firework set pieces in suitable places. They had Bengal Lights, Blue-Star Rain, Silver Fountains, and Rockets that exploded with stars.

What has happened now is that I’ve fallen madly in love with a woman. And it seems to me so absolutely natural and genuine – there’s nothing problematic about it at all. I just feel proud and uncontrollably glad. These last weeks have been like one long dance of rich adventure, tenderness, intensity – an expedition into new domains of great simplicity and beauty.

Once a year the Hattifatteners collect there before setting out again on their endless foraging expedition round the world. They come from all points of the compass, silent and serious with their small, white empty faces, and why they hold this yearly meeting it is difficult to say, as they can neither hear nor speak, and have no object in life but the distant goal of their journey's end. Perhaps they like to have a place where they feel at home and can rest a little and meet friends.