Roald Dahl's 10 most wonderful quotes

Roald Dahl would have been 103 years old today.

His children's books have been read and treasured by children and adults alike around the world, and he has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".

Lexicographer Dr Susan Rennie stated that Dahl built his new words on familiar sounds, saying:

He didn't always explain what his words meant, but children can work them out because they often sound like a word they know, and he loved using onomatopoeia.

For example, you know that something lickswishy and delumptious is good to eat, whereas something uckyslush or rotsome is not definitely not! He also used sounds that children love to say, like squishous and squizzle, or fizzlecrump and fizzwiggler.

Here are 10 of Roald Dahl's greatest quotes:

If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.

• The Twits

Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do it so completely crazy it’s unbelievable.

• Matilda

A little nonsense, now and then, is relished by the wisest men.

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I understand what you’re saying, and your comments are valuable, but I’m gonna ignore your advice.

– Fantastic Mr Fox

Most of the really exciting things we do in our lives scare us to death. They wouldn’t be exciting if they didn’t.

• Danny, The Champion of the World

If I were a headmaster I would get rid of the history teacher and get a chocolate teacher instead.

• Roald Dahl

The secret of life is to become very very good at somethin’ that’s very very ‘ard to do.

• The Hitch-hiker

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.

• The Minpins

The matter with human beans is that they is absolutely refusing to believe in anything unless they is actually seeing it right in front of their own schnozzles.

• The BFG

A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.

• Roald Dahl

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