“Anyway, solitary people interest me. There are so many different ways of being solitary.' 'I know just what you mean,' said X. 'I know exactly what you're going to say. Different kinds of solitude. Enforced solitude and voluntary solitude.' 'Quite,' said Viktoria. 'There's no need to go into it further. But when people understand one another without speaking, it can often leave them with very little to talk about, don't you think?” PeopleThinkingKnowsWayNeedsKindMeanLittlesSaidDifferentInterestSolitudeDifferent WaysDifferent KindsSolitary Author:Tove Jansson
“A theatre is the most important sort of house in the world, because that's where people are shown what they could be if they wanted, and what they'd like to be if they dared to and what they really are” PeopleIfsWorldImportantWantedHouseTheatre Author:Tove Jansson
“She started thinking about all the euphemisms for death, all the anxious taboos that had always fascinated her. It was too bad you could never have an intelligent discussion on the subject. People were either too young or too old, or else they didn't have time.” PeopleThinkingYoungSubjectsIntelligentDiscussionAnxiousFascinatedTabooEuphemism Author:Tove Jansson
“It’s strange,” Moominmamma thought. “Strange that people can be sad, and even angry because life is too easy. But that’s the way it is, I suppose. The only thing to do is to start life afresh.” PeopleWayLife IsEasyStrangeAngryThings To Do Book:Moominpappa at Sea Source: Moominpappa at Sea
“Malander had an idea and was trying to work it out, but it would take him time. Sometimes people never saw things clearly until it was too late and they no longer had the strength to start again. Or else they forgot their idea along the way and didn't even realise that they forgotten.” PeopleWayTryingIdeasSometimesSawsLateForgottenToo LateWorking ItRealising Author:Tove Jansson
“Some people just shouldn't be disturbed in their inclinations, whether large or small. A reminder can instantly turn enthusiasm into aversion and spoil everything.” PeopleTurnsEnthusiasmInclinationRemindersSpoilDisturbedAversion Book:Fair Play Source: Fair Play
“Most of the people are homesick anyway, and a little lonely, and they hide themselves in their hair and are turned into flowers.” PeopleLittlesFlowerHairLonelyHomesick Book:A Winter Book: Selected Stories Source: A Winter Book: Selected Stories
“Quite, quite,' she thought with a little sigh. 'It's always like this in their adventures. To save and be saved. I wish somebody would write a story sometime about the people who warm up the heroes afterward.” PeopleWritingLittlesStoriesWishAdventureHeroWarmSavedSigh Book:Moominland Midwinter Source: Moominland Midwinter
“There are such a lot of things that have no place in summer and autumn and spring. Everything that’s a little shy and a little rum. Some kinds of night animals and people that don’t fit in with others and that nobody really believes in. They keep out of the way all the year. And then when everything’s quiet and white and the nights are long and most people are asleep—then they appear.” PeopleWayYearsBelieveKindLittlesLongNightWhiteAnimalFitQuietSummerSpringShyAutumnRum Book:Moominland Midwinter Source: Moominland Midwinter
“Grandmother walked up over the bare granite and thought about birds in general. It seemed to her no other creature had the same dramatic capacity to underline and perfect events - the shifts in the seasons and the weather, the changes that run through people themselves.” PeopleRunningPerfectEventsCreaturesBirdCapacitySeasonsWeatherDramaticGrandmotherGranite Author:Tove Jansson
