--- title: "10 Long Quotes By Roald Dahl" description: "10 Long quotes by Roald Dahl. Plus more from Roald Dahl and more Long sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4b/roald-dahl-899_children_you-can-write-about-anything-for-childre_2226100.jpg" --- > [You can write about anything for children as long as you've got humour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/you-can-write-about-anything-for-children-as-long-as-you-ve-got-humour/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4b/roald-dahl-899_children_you-can-write-about-anything-for-childre_2226100.jpg) > [When you're writing, it's rather like going on a very long walk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/when-you-re-writing-it-s-rather-like-going-on-a-very-long-walk/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/roald-dahl-899_long_when-you-re-writing-it-s-rather-like-goi_1916447.jpg) > [A little magic can take you a long way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/a-little-magic-can-take-you-a-long-way/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4da/roald-dahl-899_littles_a-little-magic-can-take-you-a-long-way-1_1783690.jpg) > [Sex is like nose picking. It's fine as long as you practice it yourself, but it's disgusting watching someone else doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/sex-is-like-nose-picking-it-s-fine-as-long-as-you-practice-it/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3c/roald-dahl-899_disgusting_sex-is-like-nose-picking-it-s-fine-as-lo_1761013.jpg) > [Well not exactly," the father said."Nobody could do that. but it didn't take me long...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/well-not-exactly-the-father-said-nobody-could-do-that-but-it-didn-t/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/roald-dahl-899_father_well-not-exactly-the-father-said-nobody_1091650.jpg) > [Fairy tales have always got to have something a bit scary for children - as long as you make them laugh as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/fairy-tales-have-always-got-to-have-something-a-bit-scary-for/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/269/roald-dahl-899_bits_fairy-tales-have-always-got-to-have-some_1115264.jpg) > [I cannot for the life of me understand why small children take so long to grow up. I think they do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/i-cannot-for-the-life-of-me-understand-why-small-children-take-so/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/roald-dahl-899_annoying_i-cannot-for-the-life-of-me-understand-w_523270.jpg) > [My darling," she said at last, are you sure you don't mind being a mouse for the rest of your life?" "I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/my-darling-she-said-at-last-are-you-sure-you-don-t-mind-being-a-mouse/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2da/roald-dahl-899_body-love_my-darling-she-said-at-last-are-you-sure_2387198.jpg) > [ When you're writing a book, it's rather like going on a very long walk, across valleys and mountains and things \[...\] The… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/when-you-re-writing-a-book-it-s-rather-like-going-on-a-very-long-walk/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/roald-dahl-899_being-the-best_when-you-re-writing-a-book-it-s-rather-l_1102879.jpg) > [There are many other little refinements too, Mr. Bohlen. You'll see them all when you study the plans carefully. For example, there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/there-are-many-other-little-refinements-too-mr-bohlen-you-ll-see-them/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b22/roald-dahl-899_clever_there-are-many-other-little-refinements_3126532.jpg) ## Other authors on Long ## More by Roald Dahl > [Nowadays you can go anywhere in the world in a few hours, and nothing is fabulous any more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/nowadays-you-can-go-anywhere-in-the-world-in-a-few-hours-and-nothing/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [When I walked to school in the mornings I would start out alone but would pick up four other boys along the way. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/when-i-walked-to-school-in-the-mornings-i-would-start-out-alone-but/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“There's no earthly way of knowing Which direction we are going There's no knowing where we're rowing Or which way the river's flowing Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/there-s-no-earthly-way-of-knowing-which-direction-we-are-going-there/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“One of the vital things for a writer who’s writing a book, which is a lengthy project and is going to take about a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/one-of-the-vital-things-for-a-writer-who-s-writing-a-book-which-is-a/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“When Bruce Bogtrotter had eaten his way through half of the entire enormous cake, he paused for just a couple of seconds and took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/when-bruce-bogtrotter-had-eaten-his-way-through-half-of-the-entire/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [Eschew all those beastly adjectives...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/eschew-all-those-beastly-adjectives/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [Bunkum and tummyrot! You'll never get anywhere if you go about what-iffing like that. Would Columbus have discovered America if he'd said 'What if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/bunkum-and-tummyrot-you-ll-never-get-anywhere-if-you-go-about-what/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [If the Good Lord intended for us to walk, he wouldn't have invented rollar skates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/if-the-good-lord-intended-for-us-to-walk-he-wouldn-t-have-invented/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [The witching hour, somebody had once whispered to her, was a special moment in the middle of the night when every child and every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/the-witching-hour-somebody-had-once-whispered-to-her-was-a-special/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/those-who-don-t-believe-in-magic-will-never-find-it/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [But there was one other thing that the grown-ups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/but-there-was-one-other-thing-that-the-grown-ups-also-knew-and-it-was/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [When writing about oneself, one must strive to be truthful. Truth is more important than modesty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/when-writing-about-oneself-one-must-strive-to-be-truthful-truth-is/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“the world is a scary place for such a small child”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/the-world-is-a-scary-place-for-such-a-small-child/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [And above all, watch with glittering eyes the world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/and-above-all-watch-with-glittering-eyes-the-world-around-you-because/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“We must hurry!’ said Mr. Wonka. ‘We have so much time and so little to do! No! Wait! Strike that! Reverse it!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/we-must-hurry-said-mr-wonka-we-have-so-much-time-and-so-little-to-do/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/roald-dahl/#itemlist", "name": "10 Long Quotes By Roald Dahl", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can write about anything for children as long as you've got humour.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roald Dahl" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/you-can-write-about-anything-for-children-as-long-as-you-ve-got-humour/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4b/roald-dahl-899_children_you-can-write-about-anything-for-childre_2226100.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4b/roald-dahl-899_children_you-can-write-about-anything-for-childre_2226100.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4b/roald-dahl-899_children_you-can-write-about-anything-for-childre_2226100.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can write about anything for children as long as you've got humour.” — Roald Dahl", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you're writing, it's rather like going on a very long walk", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roald Dahl" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/when-you-re-writing-it-s-rather-like-going-on-a-very-long-walk/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/roald-dahl-899_long_when-you-re-writing-it-s-rather-like-goi_1916447.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/roald-dahl-899_long_when-you-re-writing-it-s-rather-like-goi_1916447.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/roald-dahl-899_long_when-you-re-writing-it-s-rather-like-goi_1916447.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you're writing, it's rather like going on a very long walk” — Roald Dahl", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A little magic can take you a long way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roald Dahl" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/a-little-magic-can-take-you-a-long-way/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4da/roald-dahl-899_littles_a-little-magic-can-take-you-a-long-way-1_1783690.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4da/roald-dahl-899_littles_a-little-magic-can-take-you-a-long-way-1_1783690.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4da/roald-dahl-899_littles_a-little-magic-can-take-you-a-long-way-1_1783690.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A little magic can take you a long way.” — Roald Dahl", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sex is like nose picking. 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I think they do it deliberately, just to annoy me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roald Dahl" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/i-cannot-for-the-life-of-me-understand-why-small-children-take-so/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/roald-dahl-899_annoying_i-cannot-for-the-life-of-me-understand-w_523270.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/roald-dahl-899_annoying_i-cannot-for-the-life-of-me-understand-w_523270.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/roald-dahl-899_annoying_i-cannot-for-the-life-of-me-understand-w_523270.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I cannot for the life of me understand why small children take so long to grow up. I think they do it…” — Roald Dahl", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My darling,\" she said at last, are you sure you don't mind being a mouse for the rest of your life?\" \"I don't mind at all\" I said. It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like as long as somebody loves you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roald Dahl" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/my-darling-she-said-at-last-are-you-sure-you-don-t-mind-being-a-mouse/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2da/roald-dahl-899_body-love_my-darling-she-said-at-last-are-you-sure_2387198.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2da/roald-dahl-899_body-love_my-darling-she-said-at-last-are-you-sure_2387198.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2da/roald-dahl-899_body-love_my-darling-she-said-at-last-are-you-sure_2387198.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My darling,\" she said at last, are you sure you don't mind being a mouse for the rest of your life?\" \"I…” — Roald Dahl", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you're writing a book, it's rather like going on a very long walk, across valleys and mountains and things [...] The highest mountain on the walk is obviously the end of the book, because it's got to be the best view of all, when everything comes together and you can look back and see that everything you've done all ties up. But it's a very, very long, slow process.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roald Dahl" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/when-you-re-writing-a-book-it-s-rather-like-going-on-a-very-long-walk/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/roald-dahl-899_being-the-best_when-you-re-writing-a-book-it-s-rather-l_1102879.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/roald-dahl-899_being-the-best_when-you-re-writing-a-book-it-s-rather-l_1102879.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/roald-dahl-899_being-the-best_when-you-re-writing-a-book-it-s-rather-l_1102879.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you're writing a book, it's rather like going on a very long walk, across valleys and mountains and…” — Roald Dahl", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are many other little refinements too, Mr. Bohlen. You'll see them all when you study the plans carefully. For example, there's a trick that nearly every writer uses, of inserting at least one long, obscure word into each story. This makes the reader think that the man is very wise and clever. So I have the machine do the same thing. There'll be a whole stack of long words stored away just for this purpose.\" Where?\" In the 'word-memory' section,\" he said, epexegetically.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roald Dahl" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/there-are-many-other-little-refinements-too-mr-bohlen-you-ll-see-them/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b22/roald-dahl-899_clever_there-are-many-other-little-refinements_3126532.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b22/roald-dahl-899_clever_there-are-many-other-little-refinements_3126532.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b22/roald-dahl-899_clever_there-are-many-other-little-refinements_3126532.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are many other little refinements too, Mr. Bohlen. You'll see them all when you study the plans…” — Roald Dahl", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/roald-dahl/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/roald-dahl/", "name": "Long Quotes by Roald Dahl", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/roald-dahl/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4b/roald-dahl-899_children_you-can-write-about-anything-for-childre_2226100.jpg" }, "description": "10 Long quotes by Roald Dahl. Plus more from Roald Dahl and more Long sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/roald-dahl/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/roald-dahl/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Long", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Roald Dahl", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/roald-dahl/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```