Tove Jansson

I'm not sure I would have ever started to draw, let alone write, if my childhood hadn't been so happy. It was…

— Tove Jansson

“The star we're looking for isn't so very friendly," said Moomintroll. "Quite the contrary, in fact." "What did you say?" said Sniff.…

— Tove Jansson

It looks rather ordinary," said the Snork. "Unless you consider that a top hat is always somewhat extraordinary, of course.

— Tove Jansson

“But Moominpappa wasn't listening, because just at that moment he had got the right grip on a big round boulder, and with…

— Tove Jansson

Everyone must imagine his own snakes because no one else's snakes can ever be as awful.

— Tove Jansson

All men have parties and are pals who never let each other down. A pal can say terrible things which are forgotten…

— Tove Jansson

Someone who eats pancakes and jam can't be so awfully dangerous. You can talk to him.

— Tove Jansson

It's risky to talk about one's most secret dreams a bit too early.

— Tove Jansson

“I cannot stress enough the perils of your friends marrying or becoming court inventors. One day you are all a society of…

— Tove Jansson

“Sophia," she said, "this is really not something to argue about. You can see for yourself that life is hard enough without…

— Tove Jansson

Before we left, Grandmother talked a lot about the arctic night we would fly through. 'Isn't it a mystical word, "arctic"? Pure…

— Tove Jansson

It is still summer, but the summer is no longer alive. It has come to a standstill; nothing withers, and fall is…

— Tove Jansson

“It'd be awful if the world exploded, it's so wonderfully splendid”

— Tove Jansson

“Grandmother walked up over the bare granite and thought about birds in general. It seemed to her no other creature had the…

— Tove Jansson

But he thought all the strange words were beautiful, and he had never had a book of his own before.

— Tove Jansson

“I can dive", Sophia said. "Do you know what it feels like when you dive?" Of course I do," her grandmother said.…

— Tove Jansson

“Before she left, she said, "Just remember one thing: Going along with something doesn't mean you give in to it.[...]”

— Tove Jansson

“Isn't it fun when one's friends get exactly what suits them?”

— Tove Jansson

It’s only the sea,’ said Moomintroll. ‘Every wave that dies on the beach sings a little song to a shell. But you…

— Tove Jansson

Lie on the bridge and watch the water flowing past. Or run, or wade through the swamp in your red boots. Or…

— Tove Jansson

“He read the classics, the French and the German among others, but primarily the Russian, which enchanted him with their heavy patience.”

— Tove Jansson

“When the kite was finished, it refused to fly and kept slamming into the ground as if it wanted to destroy itself,…

— Tove Jansson

Everything's much too big here,' thought Moominmamma. 'Or perhaps I'm too small.

— Tove Jansson

Dogs are mute and obedient, but they have watched us and know us and can smell how pitiful we are.

— Tove Jansson

Mummy weighed sweets and nuts so that everyone would get exactly the same amount. During the year, everything is measured roughly, but…

— Tove Jansson