What the Dormouse Said: Lessons for Grown-Ups from Children's Books - Rilegato

What the Dormouse Said is the first book to bring together worldly wisdom from more than two hundred best-loved children's books: What does the Little Prince know about searching for beauty? What can Madeline teach us about being brave? And what is Harry Potter's prescription for living well? From such classics as Charlotte's Web and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, here are lessons about lofty matters, like love and faith, and practical matters, like table manners and family woes. These inspirational and witty quotations, from Aesop to Dr. Seuss, from Mark Twain to Judy Blume, remind us not to lose sight of the values we learned as kids--to be courageous, to do good deeds, to respect our imaginations and maybe even to break a few rules once in a while.

--from the foreword by Judith Viorst

From What the Dormouse Said:

On Silence: "Perhaps after all it is just as well to speak only once a year and then speak to the purpose."

--Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Kate Douglas Wiggin

On Pleasure: "Believe me, my young friend, ther is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

--The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

On Acceptance: "The world is full of happiness, and plenty to go round, if you are only willing to take the kind that comes your way."

--Daddy-Long-Legs, Jean Webster