Dr. Seuss Quotes

“And this mess is so big And so deep and so tall, We cannot pick it up. There is no way at all!”

“He should not be here, ” said the fish in the pot. “he should not be here when your mother is not.”

“Now look what you did!” Said the fish to the cat. “Now look at this house!”

“I will NOT go away. I do NOT wish to go!”

“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.”

“A lot of good tricks. I will show them to you. Your mother Will not mind at all if I do.”

“But I like to be here. Oh, I like it a lot!”

“You will like these two things,” Said the cat with a bow.

“Then Sally and I Did not know what to say. Our mother was out of the house for the day.”

“And then something went BUMP! How that bump made us jump!”

“It is fun to have fun But you have to know how.”

“So all we could do was to Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! And we did not like it. Not one little bit.”

He said, “Do I like this? Oh, no! I do not.”

“You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.”

“You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.”

“Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars.”

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

“Things are not quite as bad as you think.”

“All those Nupboards in the Cupboards they’re good fun to have about. But that Nooth gush on my tooth brush...Him I could do without.”

“And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)”

“Don’t give up! I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small!”

“Day Play We play all day. Night Fight We fight all night.”

“Kid, you’ll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!”

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

“A book is just like life and anything can change.”

“It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.”

“So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!”

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!”

“A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.”

“ASAP. Whatever that means. It must mean, ‘Act swiftly awesome pachyderm!”

“I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees, which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please!”

“I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am.”

“He’ll tell you, perhaps . . . if you’re willing to pay.”

“The old Once-ler still lives here. Ask him. He knows.”

“Would you like them in a house? Would you like them with a mouse?”

“I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere.”

“Would you, could you, on a boat?”

“With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.”

“KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!”

“I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-am.”

“And when you’re in a Slump you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.”

“On and on you will hike, And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.”

“Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t.”

“You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may, I say.”

“If you will let me be, I will try them. You will see.”

“OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO! You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.”

“But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak.”

“On the end of a rope he lets down a tin pail and you have to toss in fifteen cents and a nail and the shell of a great-great-great- grandfather snail.”

“Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.”

“All Alone! Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.”

“Do you like green eggs and ham?”

“Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!”

“Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.”

“I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.”

“Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.”

“I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.”

“The Waiting Place...for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or the waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting. “Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for the wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.”

“No one can sing who has smog in his throat.”

″[T]he magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be as famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.”

“I would not, could not, in the rain. Not in the dark. Not on a train. Not in a car. Not in a tree. I do not like them, Sam, you see.”

“Would you eat them in a box? Would you eat them with a fox?”

“Say! I like green eggs and ham! I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!”

“Describe him? That’s hard, I don’t know if I can.”

“Sir! You are crazy with greed. There is no one on earth that would buy that fool Thneed!”

“Say! In the dark? Here in the dark! Would you, could you, in the dark?” “I would not, could not, in the dark.”

“And he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy.”

“A Thneed’s a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need.”

“I called all my brothers and uncles and aunts and I said, ‘Listen here! Here’s a wonderful chance for the whole Once-ler Family to get mighty rich.‘”

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

“You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.”

“And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.”

“Get over here fast! Take the road to North Nitch. Turn left at Weehawken. Sharp right at South Stitch.”

“Then he grunts, ‘I will call you by Whisper-Ma-Phone, for the secrets I tell are for your ears alone.‘”

“And on special dank midnights in August, he peeks out of the shutters and sometimes he speaks.”

“Would you? Could you? In a car? Eat them! Eat them! Here they are.”

“And my poor Bar-ba-loots are all getting the crummies because they have gas, and no food, in their tummies.”

“I felt a great leaping of joy in my heart.”

“It’s a shirt. It’s a sock. It’s a glove. It’s a hat.”

“That was long, long ago. But each day since that day I’ve sat here and worried and worried away.”

“And I first saw the trees! The Truffula trees! The bright-colored tufts of the Truffula trees! Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze.”

″‘Just pay me your money, then hop right aboard!’ So they clambered inside. Then the big machine roared.”

“He brought back their snoof and their tringlers and fuzzles, Brought back their pantookas, their dafflers and wuzzles.”

″[B]usiness is business! And business must grow regardless of crummies in tummies, you know.”

“But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches Would brag, “We’re the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches.”

“I never take a step to one side.”

“And that handy machine working very precisely removed all the stars from their tummies quite nicely.”

“Whether this one was that one...or that one was this one or which one was what one...or what one was who.”

“She stared at the Grinch and said, ‘Santy Claus, why, why are you taking our Christmas tree? WHY?‘”

“Then he pulls up the pail, makes a most careful count to see if you’ve paid him the proper amount.”

“But I think that the most likely reason of all May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.”

“I’ve come here to help you. I have what you need. And my prices are low. And I work at great speed. And my work is one hundred per cent guaranteed.”

“He brought everything back, all the food for the feast! And he, he himself, the Grinch carved the roast beast!”

″‘Good grief!’ yelled the ones that had stars at the first. ‘We’re still the best Sneetches and they are the worst. But, now, how in the world will we know,’ they all frowned, if which kind is what, or the other way round?‘”

“I meant no harm. I most truly did not. But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.”

“I went right on biggering . . . selling more Thneeds. And I biggered my money, which everyone needs.”

“Welcome Christmas. Bring your cheer, Cheer to all Whos, far and near.”

“The day they decided that Sneetches were Sneetches. And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.”

“Then, of course, those with stars all got frightfully mad. To be wearing a star now was frightfully bad.”

“Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot. But the Grinch who lived just North of Whoville did not!”

“With a smile to his soul, he descended Mount Crumpet Cheerily blowing “Who! Who!” on his trumpet.”

“Then they yelled at the ones that had stars at the start. We’re exactly like you! You can’t tell us apart. We’re all just the same, now, you snooty old smarties! And now we can go to your frankfurter parties.”

“Then, when every last cent of their money was spent, the Fix-it-Up Chappie packed up and he went.”

“And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say That the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!”

“And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! There’s one thing I hate! All the NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!”

“Christmas Day will always be Just as long as we have we.”

“They walked all night from near to far. I would never walk. I would take a car.”

“He will live at our house. He will grow and grow. Will our mother like this? We don’t know.”

″‘Believe me,’ said Horton, ‘I tell you sincerely, my ears are quite keen and I heard him quite clearly. I *know* there’s a person down there. And, what’s more, quite likely there’s two. Even three. Even four.‘”

″‘Should I put this speck down? . . .’ Horton thought with alarm. ‘If I do, these small persons may come to great harm. I *can’t* put it down. And I *won’t!* After all A person’s a person. No matter how small.‘”

“That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars, and whether they had one, or not, upon thars.”

“Then he got an idea! An awful idea! The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea!”

“And it klonked. And it bonked. And it jerked. And it berked And it bopped them about. But the thing really worked!”

“Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant, Around the whole room, and he took every present!”

“In yellow socks I box my Gox. I box in yellow Gox box socks.”

“It is fun to sing if you sing with a Ying. My Ying can sing like anything.”

“I sing high and my Ying sings low, and we are not too bad, you know.”

“If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good.”

“And Horton called back to the Mayor of the town, ‘You’re safe now. Don’t worry. I won’t let you down.‘”

″‘Find THAT!’ sneered the bird. ‘But I think you will fail.’ And he left with a flip of his black-bottomed tail.”

“And you very small persons will not have to die if you make yourselves heard! *So come one, now, and TRY!*”

“He rode into Whoville. He brought back their toys. He brought back their floof to the Who girls and boys.”

“Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, ‘I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming!‘”

“Why are they sad and glad and bad? I do not know. Go ask your dad.”

″‘My friend,’ came the voice, ‘you’re a *very* find friend. You’ve helped all us folks on this dust speck no end. You’ve saved all our houses, our ceilings and floors. You’ve saved all our churches and grocery stores.‘”

“Off again! On again! In again! Out again!”

“But this sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded glad!”

“Oh me! Oh my! Oh me! Oh my! What a lot of funny things go by.”

“They’ve proved they ARE persons, no matter how small. And their whole world was saved by the Smallest of All!”

“Never budge! That’s my rule. Never budge in the least! Not an inch to the west! Not an inch to the east! I’ll stay here, not budging! I can and I will if it makes you and me and the whole world stand still!”

“I’ll make you, again, the best Sneetches on beaches and all it will cost you is ten dollars eaches.”

“We know who is who! Now there isn’t a doubt. The very best Sneetches are Sneetches without.”

“Packed it up with their presents, their ribbons, their wrappings, Their snoof and their fuzzles, their tringlers and trappings! Ten thousand feet up, up the side of Mount Crumpet, He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!”

″‘Of course,’ Horton answered. ‘Of course I will stick. I will stick by you small folks through thin and through thick!‘”

“My town is called *Who*-ville, for I am a *Who* And we *Whos* are all thankful and grateful to you.”

“So call a big meeting. Get everyone out. Make every *Who* holler! Make every *Who* shout! Make every *Who* scream! If you don’t, every *Who* is going to end up in a Beezle-Nut stew!”

“Christmas Day is in our grasp So long as we have hands to grasp.”

“I know just what to do!” The Grinch laughed in his throat. “I’ll make a quick Santy Claus hat and a coat.”

“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do! Their mouths will hang open a minute or two Then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry boo-hoo!”

″‘I’ll find it!’ cried Horton. ‘I’ll find it or bust! I SHALL find my friends on my small speck of dust!‘”

″‘My friends!’ cried the elephant. ‘Tell me! Do tell! Are you safe? Are you sound? Are you whole? Are you well?‘”

“Here are some who like to run. They run for fun in the hot, hot sun.”

“I like to hop all day and night from right to left and left to right.”

“Not one of them is like another. Don’t ask us why. Go ask your mother.”

″*Everyone* seemed to be yapping or yipping! *Everyone* seemed to be beeping or bipping! But it *wasn’t enough,* all this ruckus and roar! He HAD to find someone to help him make more. He raced through each building! He searched floor-to-floor!”

“I do not like this one so well. All he does is yell, yell, yell.”

“Today is gone. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

″‘What terrible splashing!’ the elephant frowned. ‘I can’t let my very small persons get drowned! I’ve *got* to protect them. I’m bigger than they.’ So he plucked up the clover and hustled away.”

“While Horton chased after, with groans, over stones that tattered his toenails and battered his bones, and begged, ‘Please don’t harm all my little folks, who have as much right to live as us bigger folks do!‘”

“From sun in the summer. From rain when it’s fallish, I’m going to protect them. No matter how small-ish!”

“Now! Now! Have no fear. Have no fear!” said the cat. “My tricks are not bad,” said the Cat in the Hat.

“I know some good games we could play,” said the cat. “I know some good tricks,” said the Cat in the Hat.

“But that is not all. Oh no. That is not all!”

“Oh dear!” said the cat. “You do not like our game . . . Oh dear. What a shame! What a shame! What a shame!”

“Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, Was singing without any presents at all!”

“They’ll stand close together, with Christmas bells ringing. They’ll stand hand-in-hand, and those Whos will start singing!”

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!”

“Then he slid down the chimney, a rather tight pinch. But if Santa could do it, then so could the Grinch.”

“Welcome Christmas while we stand Heart to heart and hand in hand.”

“For, tomorrow, I know all the Who girls and boys Will wake bright and early. They’ll rush for their toys!”

“Could you, would you, with a goat? I would not, could not, with a goat!”

“So I will eat them in a box. And I will eat them with a fox. And I will eat them in a house. And I will eat them with a mouse. And I will eat them here and there. Say! I will eat them ANYWHERE!”

“You may like them. You will see. You may like them in a tree!”

“I could not, would not, on a boat. I will not, will not, with a goat. I will not eat them in the rain. I will not eat them on a train. Not in the dark! Not in a tree! Not in a car! You let me be! I do not like them in a box. I do not like them with a fox. I will not eat them in a house. I do not like them with a mouse. I do not like them here or there. I do not like them ANYWHERE!”

“And I will eat the in the rain. And in the dark. And on a train. And in car. And in tree. They are so good, so good, you see!”

“Would you, could you, in the rain?”

“I do not like them in a house. I do not like them with a mouse.”

“That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!”

“You do not like green eggs and ham? I do not like them, Sam-I-am.”

“Would you like them here or there?”

“A train! A train! A train! A train! Could you, would you, on a train?”

“And I would eat them in a boat, And I would eat them with a goat…”

“You! Open up your eyes!”

“The sun gets up. So up with you!”

“Great day to sing up on a wire.”

“Great day for up feet! Lefts and rights.”

“Great day for up Mt. DIll-ma-dilts.”

“Everybody’s doing ups!”

“Wake up! For Today is your Day of all Days!”

“If you’d never been born, then you might be an ISN’T! An Isn’t has no fun at all. No he disn’t.”

“Shout loud at the top of your voice, ‘I AM I! ME! I am I! And I may not know why but I know that I like it!‘”

“I am what I am! That’s a great thing to be! If I say so myself, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!”

“A Present! A-ha! Now what kind shall I give...? Why, the kind you’ll remember as long as you live!”

“But you have to be smart and keep watching their feet. Because sometimes they stand on their tiptoes and cheat.”

“But you...You ARE YOU! And, now isn’t that pleasant!”

“Today [...] eat whatever you want [...] If you wish, you may eat with both hands and both feet. So get in there and munch. Have a big munch-er-oo!”

“Three cheers! I AM I!”

“All of it, all of it, All is for you!”

“If we didn’t have birthdays, you wouldn’t be you. If you’d never been born, well then what would you do? [...] Why, you might be a WASN’T!”

“The Great Birthday Bird! [...] This bird has a brain. He’s most beautifully brained with the brainiest bird-brain that’s ever been trained.”

“They’ll take us down fast to the Birthday Flower Jungle. The best-sniffing flowers that anyone grows we have grown to be sniffed by your own private nose.”

“That costs quite a lot. But I couldn’t care less. Today is your birthday! Today You are You! So what if it costs me a thousand or two.”

“Because, after your party, as well you may guess, it will take twenty days just to sweep up the mess.”

“From east of the East-est to west of the West-est we’ve searched the whole world just to bring you the best-est.”

“They smell like licorice! And cheese!”

“It’s your Day of all Days! It’s the Best of the Best! So don’t waste a minute! Hop to it! Get dressed!”

“And I wish I could do All these great things for you!”

“From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.”

“Look at me! Look at me! Look at me NOW! It is fun to have fun But you have to know how.”

“‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!’”

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant…An elephant’s faithful, one hundred per cent!”

“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is You-er than You!”

″ The more that you READ, the more things you will KNOW. The more that you LEARN, the more places you’ll GO.”

“ALL TALL We all are tall. ALL SMALL We all are small. ”

″ NO PAT NO Don’t sit on that. ”

″ We like to hop. We like to hop on top of Pop. ”

“You’re glumping the pond where the Humming-fish hummed! No more can they hum, for their gills are all glummed! ”

″ Then we heard the tree fall, the very last Truffula Tree of them all! ”

″ HE ME He is after me. HIM JIM Jim is after him. ”

″ PAT CAT Pat sat on a cat. PAT BAT Pat sat on a bat. ”

“SAD DAD BAD HAD Dad is sad. Very, very sad. He had a bad day. What a day Dad had! ”

″ I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. ”

″ In no time at all, I had built a small shop. Then I chopped down a Truffula Tree with one chop. ”

″ Way back in the days when the grass was still green and the pond was still wet and the clouds were still clean,”

“UP PUP Pup is up. CUP PUP Pup in cup. PUP CUP Cup on pup.”

“ALL FALL Fall off the wall. ”

“STOP You must not hop on Pop. ”

“Here come clown feet. Small feet, Big feet.”

“I don’t like this trick, sir. My tongue isn’t quick quick or slick, sir. I get all those ticks and clocks, sir, mixed up with chicks and tocks, sir. I can’t do it, Mr. Fox, sir. ”

“Front feet, Back feet. Red feet, Black feet. Left foot, Right foot.”

“Slow feet, Quick feet. Trick feet, Sick feet. Up feet, Down feet.”

“Left foot. Right foot. Feet. Feet. Feet. Oh, how many feet you meet!”

″ Look, sir. Look, sir. Mr. Knox, sir. Let’s do tricks with bricks and blocks, sir. Let’s do tricks with chicks and clocks, sir.”

“His feet, Her feet. Fuzzy fur feet.”

“Knox in box. Fox in socks.”

“In the house, and on the street how many, many feet you meet.”

“Mr. Fox, sir. I won’t do it. I can’t say it. I won’t chew it.”

″ Left foot, Left foot Right foot, Right. Feet in the morning. Feet at night. Left foot, Left foot, Left foot, Right. Wet foot, Dry foot. High foot, Low foot. ”

“Chicks with bricks come. Chicks with blocks come. Chicks with bricks and blocks and clocks come. ”

“Feet, Feet, Feet. How many, many feet you meet.”

“More and more feet Twenty-four feet Here come more and more………….. ……….and more feet!”

“The first thing to do is prop up this tree and make it much stronger. That has to be done before I get on it. I must weigh a ton.”

“Then carefully, tenderly, gently he crept up the trunk to the nest where the little egg slept.

“Did he run? He did not! HORTON STAYED ON THAT NEST! He held his head high and threw out his chest and looked at the hunters as much as to say: ‘shoot if you must but I won’t run away!’ ”

“Mr. Brown is smart, as smart as they come!”

″ You might learn a way to earn a few dollars. ”

“Oh, the wonderful things Mr. Brown can do! ”

“Horton was lonely. He wanted to play. But he sat on the egg and continued to say: ‘I meant what I said, I said what I meant, an elephant is faithful one hundred per cent!”

″ If you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you will learn!”

″ I can read in red. I can read in blue. I can read in pickle color too.”

“He can go like a bee. Mr Brown can BUZZ. How about you? Can you go BUZZ BUZZ”

“Maybe YOU can, too. I think you ought to try.”

“It’s an elephant-bird!! And it should be, it should be, it SHOULD be like that! Because Horton was faithful! He sat and he sat! He meant what he said and he said what he meant... and they sent him home happy, one hundred per cent!

“If you read with your eyes shut you’re likely to find that the place where you’re going is far, far behind.”

″ You can learn to read music and play a Huz-Zut if you keep your eyes open. But not with them shut.”

“Very well, since you insist... You want a vacation. Go fly off and take it. I’ll sit on your egg and try not to break it. I’ll stay and be faithful. I mean what I say.”

″ He can go like a cow. He can go MOO MOO. ”

“BLURP BLURP SLURP SLURP COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK and HOO HOO HOO He can even SIZZLE SIZZLE”

“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.”