Jack Quotes

“His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink.”

Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.

“He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.”

“They looked at each other, baffled, in love and hate.”

“We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything.”

“Shut up,” said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things.” “A chief! A chief!” “I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”

“You’ve noticed, haven’t you?” Jack put down his spear and squatted. “Noticed what?” “Well. They’re frightened.” He rolled over and peered into Jack’s fierce, dirty face. “I mean the way things are. They dream. You can hear ‘em. Have you been awake at night?” Jack shook his head. “They talk and scream. The littluns. Even some of the others. As if—” “As if it wasn’t a good island.” Astonished at the interruption, they looked up at Simon’s serious face. “As if,” said Simon, “the beastie, the beastie or the snake-thing, was real. Remember?”

“I’d soon as go to jail than take that damn relief job.”

“Jack was happy and very lazy. He did not work. All day he stared at the faraway sky. Jack’s mother was very unhappy. ‘We have no money left, ’ she wailed. ‘What shall we do now?”

“Happy Jack smiled. ‘I will get a job,’ he said. ‘Then we will have pots of money.’ Jack went to a farm. ‘Can I have a job?’ he asked the farmer. ‘Yes’ the farmer said. ‘You can star on Monday.”

“This is the dog that worried the cat, that chased the rat, that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built”

“This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built”

“This is the man all tattered and torn, that kissed the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with the crumpled horn, that tossed the dog, that worried the cat, that chased the rat, that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built”

“This is the cat that chased the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built”

“This the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with the crumpled horn, that tossed the dog, that worried the cat, that chased the rat, that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built”

″ ‘I’m not up to everything, Peterkin, as you’ll find out ere long,’ replied Jack, with a smile; ‘but I have been a great reader of books of travel and adventure all my life, and that has put me up to a good many things that you are, perhaps, not acquainted with.’ ”

″ ‘I neither believe in ghosts nor feel uneasy,’ he replied. ‘I never saw a ghost myself, and I never met with any one who had; and I have generally found that strange and unaccountable things have almost always been accounted for, and found to be quite simple, on close examination.’ ”

“That’s interesting,′ said Dad. ‘Yes,’ said Jack. ‘He came here on a swan.’ ‘A black or white swan?’ asked Dad. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Jack. ‘You always ask the wrong questions!’ ‘How did Tashi get here on a swan then?’ asked Mum.”

“I’ve seen a lot o’ fellows that were always poring over books, and when they came to try to do anything, they were no better than baboons!”

“Jack’s extraordinary imaginary friend Tashi, a gnome-like character from a place far away. Brave Tashi tells adventurous tales of being sold to a warlord and escaping on a swan. ”

“It doesn’t matter,′ said Jack. ‘And I’m not telling you any more because I’m going to bed.’ A week passed and Jach ate lunch with Tashi every day. And every day he heard a marvellous adventure.”

“Jack spends most of the year in school; Gill slowly settles in, and gets to know an eclectic mixture of local people, as well as learning about the history of the house, which includes a missing horn and a strange curse...”