Here are the 129 best handpicked quotes from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll:
From quotes by Alice herself to quotes by the White Rabbit to quotes by the Cheshire Cat.
So if you want the best quotes from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” sorted by figure, then you’re in the right place.
Let’s go!
My Favorite “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” Quote
#1
“It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
This favorite quote from the main character Alice carries a meaningful message about growing up.
On the surface, the quote means that one should not dwell on their past, whether that’s mistakes, misfortunes, or missed opportunities because you were a different person back then with a different perspective over things.
However, more than not looking back in our past, this also says that no amount of change through our experiences is insignificant when it comes to the impact it contributes to our growth as an individual.
54 Quotes by No Specific Figure
#2
“If you knew Time as well as I do,” said the Hatter, “you wouldn’t talk about wasting it.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#3
“Alice: “Have I gone mad?”
The Mad Hatter: “I’m afraid so, but let me tell you something, the best people usually are.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#4
“Alice: “I don’t think…”
Mad hatter: “Then you shouldn’t talk.””Mad hatter: “Then you shouldn’t talk.””
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#5
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked. “Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” “How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice. “You must be,” said the Cat, “Or you wouldn’t have come here.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#6
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “And go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#7
“Little Alice fell down the hole, bumped her head and bruised her soul.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#8
“The Mad Hatter: “Would you like some wine?”
Alice: “Yes.”
The Mad Hatter: “We haven’t any and you’re too young.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#9
“Mad Hatter: “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”
“Have you guessed the riddle yet?” the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.
“No, I give it up,” Alice replied: “What’s the answer?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” said the Hatter.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#10
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where,” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “So long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation. “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “If you only walk long enough.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#11
“But it’s no use now,” thought poor Alice, “to pretend to be two people! Why, there’s hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person!”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#12
“If everybody minded their own business,” the Duchess said, in a hoarse growl, “the world would go round a deal faster than it does.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#13
“Yes, that’s it! ” said the Hatter with a sigh, “It’s always tea time.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#14
“It was much pleasanter at home,” thought poor Alice, “When one wasn’t always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn’t gone down the rabbit hole and yet, and yet.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#15
“What a strange world we live in,” said Alice to the Queen of hearts.
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#16
“No, no!” said the Queen. “Sentence first—verdict afterward.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#17
“Alice did not wish to offend the Dormouse again, so she began very cautiously: “But I don’t understand. Where did they draw the treacle from?”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#18
“I don’t know what’s the matter with it!” the Queen said, in a melancholy voice. “It’s out of temper, I think. I’ve pinned it here, and I’ve pinned it there, but there’s no pleasing it!”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#19
“The Red Queen shook her head. “You may call it ‘nonsense’ if you like,” she said, “But I’ve heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#20
“And her eyes immediately met those of a large caterpillar, that was sitting on the top with its arms folded, quietly smoking a long hookah.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#21
“Speak English!” said the Eaglet. “I don’t know the meaning of half those long words, and I don’t believe you do either!”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#22
“Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin,” thought Alice “But a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#23
“Whether the pleasure of making a daisy chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#24
“Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#25
“In that direction,” the Cat said, waving its right paw round, “lives a Hatter: and in that direction,” waving the other paw, “lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#26
“In Wonderland, though she knew she had but to open them again, and all would change to dull reality – the grass would be only rustling in the wind, and the pool rippling to the waving of the reeds – the rattling teacups would.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#27
“And how many hours a day did you do lessons?” said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.
“Ten hours the first day,” said the Mock Turtle, “Nine the next, and so on.”
“What a curious plan!” exclaimed Alice.
“That’s the reason they’re called lessons,” the Gryphon remarked, “Because they lessen from day to day.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#28
“The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, began screaming “Off with her head! Off with—”
“Nonsense!” said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#29
“I don’t like the look of it at all,” said the King: “However, it may kiss my hand, if it likes.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#30
“If you didn’t sign it,” said the King, “That only makes the matter worse. You must have meant some mischief, or else you’d have signed your name like an honest man.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#31
“Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court.” Everybody looked at Alice. “I’m not a mile high,” said Alice. “You are,” said the King. “Nearly two miles high,” added the Queen. “Well, I shan’t go, at any rate,” said Alice; “Besides, that’s not a regular rule: you invented it just now.” “It’s the oldest rule in the book,” said the King. “Then it ought to be Number One,” said Alice.
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#32
“It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very simply and neatly arranged, the only difficulty was, that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#33
“Once upon a time there were three little sisters,” the Dormouse began in a great hurry; “And their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie, and they lived at the bottom of a well – ” “What did they live on?” said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#34
“I didn’t mean it!” pleaded poor Alice. “But you’re so easily offended, you know!”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#35
“And what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “Without pictures or conversation?”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#36
“If you don’t know where you are going any road can take you there.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#37
“Either it brings tears to their eyes, or else -” “Or else what?” said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause. “Or else it doesn’t, you know.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#38
“Mad Hatter: “Would you like a little more tea?”
Alice: “Well, I haven’t had any yet, so I can’t very well take more.”
March Hare: “Ah, you mean you can’t very well take less.”
Mad Hatter: “Yes. You can always take more than nothing.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#39
“She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#40
“Alice: “When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! And when I grow up, I’ll write one—but I’m grown up now,” she added in a sorrowful tone: “At least there’s no room to grow up anymore here.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#41
“Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman, and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#42
“It was all very well to say ‘Drink me,’ but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. ‘No, I’ll look first,’ she said, ‘And see whether it’s marked ‘poison’ or not.’”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#43
“How do you like the Queen?” said the Cat in a low voice. “Not at all,” said Alice: “She’s so extremely—” Just then she noticed that the Queen was close behind her, listening: so she went on “—likely to win, that it’s hardly worthwhile finishing the game.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#44
“All the time they were playing the Queen never left off quarreling with the other players, and shouting ‘Off with his head!’ or ‘Off with her head!’ Those whom she sentenced were taken into custody by the soldiers, who of course had to leave off being arches to do this, so that by the end of half an hour or so there were no arches left, and all the players, except the King, the Queen, and Alice, were in custody and under sentence of execution.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#45
“‘Tis so,” said the Duchess: “And the moral of that is— ‘Oh, ‘tis love, ‘tis love, that makes the world go round!’” “Somebody said,” Alice whispered, “That it’s done by everybody minding their own business!”
“Ah well! It means much the same thing,” said the Duchess, digging her sharp little chin into Alice’s shoulder as she added, “and the moral of that is—‘Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.’”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#46
“When we were little,” the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, “we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle—we used to call him Tortoise.” “Why did you call him Tortoise if he wasn’t one?” asked Alice. “We called him Tortoise because he taught us,” said the Mock Turtle angrily. “Really you are very dull!”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#47
“If there’s no meaning in it,” said the King, “That saves a world of trouble, you know, as we needn’t try to find any.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#48
“Your hair wants cutting,” said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#49
“And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle looks like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#50
“He took his vorpal sword in hand, the vorpal blade went snicker-snack. He left it dead, and with its head, he went galumphing back. It’s all about you, you know.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#51
“Always speak the truth, think before you speak, and write it down afterwards.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#52
“Can you do Addition?” the White Queen said. “What’s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?” “I don’t know,” said Alice. “I lost count.” “She can’t do Addition,” the Red Queen interrupted.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#53
“Two days wrong!” sighed the Hatter. “I told you butter wouldn’t suit the works!” he added, looking angrily at the March Hare.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#54
“She can’t do Subtraction.” said the White Queen. “Can you do Division? Divide a loaf by a knife what’s the answer to that?” “I suppose-” Alice was beginning, but the Red Queen answered for her. “Bread-and-butter, of course.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#55
“Look after the senses and the sounds will look after themselves.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
10 Quotes by the Cheshire Cat
#56
“Imagination is the only weapon in the war with reality.”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#57
“I am not crazy, my reality is just different from yours.”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#58
“A dream is not reality, but who’s to say which is which?”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#59
“We’re all mad here.”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#60
“You see, a dog growls when it’s angry, and wags its tail when it’s pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore I’m mad.”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#61
“Every adventure requires a first step.”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#62
“Never let anyone drive you crazy; it is nearby anyway and the walk is good for you.”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#63
“I went to a hunting party once, I didn’t like it. Terrible people. They all started hunting me!”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#64
“Only a few find the way, some don’t recognize it when they do – some, don’t ever want to.”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#65
“Somehow you strayed and lost your way, and now there’ll be no time to play, no time for joy, no time for friends – not even time to make amends.”
— The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
22 Quotes by the Mad Hatter
#66
“You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “It’s very easy to take more than nothing.”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#67
“A land was full of wonder, mystery, and danger. Some say, to survive it, you need to be as mad as a hatter. Which, luckily, I am.”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#68
“What a regrettably large head you have. I would very much like to hat it!”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#69
“We never get compliments, you must have a cup of tea!”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#70
“Personal remarks are rude?”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#71
“What a small world this is!”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#72
“I know a thing or two about liking people, and in time, after much chocolate and cream cake, ‘like’ turns into ‘what was his name again?'”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#73
“Does YOUR watch tell you what year it is?”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#74
“What’s the matter my dear, don’t you care for tea?”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#75
“What is the hatter with me?”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#76
“Egad, you learn something new every day.”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#77
“No wonder you’re late. Why this watch is exactly two days slow.”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#78
“Although, it was 150 years ago. It can’t be the same girl. Oysters don’t even live that long.”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#79
“Why, you might just as well say that ‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#80
“Oh, what a delightful child!”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#81
“Oh, tea! I never ‘thought’ of tea! Of course!”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#82
“He won’t stand beating. Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he’d do almost anything you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose it were nine o’clock in the morning, just time to begin lessons: you’d only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#83
“I would very much like to hat it. I used to hat The White Queen, you know. Her head was so small.”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#84
“Mustard! Yes, mu- mustard? Don’t let’s be silly! Lemon, that’s different.”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#85
“I keep them to sell. I’ve none of my own. I’m a hatter.”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#86
“I dare say you never even spoke to Time!”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#87
“The last… uhm… the last time a girl called Alice came here from your world, she brought down the whole House of Cards. Oh yeah. Made quite an impression.”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#88
“Down with the bloody Red Queen!”
— The Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
2 Quotes by the White Rabbit
#89
“The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh, my dear paws! Oh, my fur and whiskers! She’ll get me executed, as sure as ferrets are ferrets! Where can I have dropped them, I wonder?”
— The White Rabbit, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#90
“Not all who wander are lost.”
— The White Rabbit, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
4 Quotes by the Duchess
#91
“You’re thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk.”
— The Duchess, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#92
“Everything’s got a moral if only you can find it.”
— The Duchess, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#93
“The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours.”
— The Duchess, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#94
“Birds of a feather flock together.”
— The Duchess, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
1 Quote by Dodo
#95
“The best way to explain it is to do it.”
— Dodo, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
17 Quotes by Alice
#96
“I don’t see how he can ever finish if he doesn’t begin.”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#97
“‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#98
“I’m afraid I can’t explain myself, sir. Because I am not myself, you see.”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#99
“What a funny watch! It tells the day of the month and doesn’t tell what o’clock it is!”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#100
“Curiouser and curiouser!”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#101
“I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night. Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different.”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#102
“Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I’ll come up: if not, I’ll stay down here till I’m somebody else.”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#103
“But I don’t want to go among mad people.”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#104
“I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears!”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#105
“I do wish they WOULD put their heads down! I am so VERY tired of being all alone here!”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#106
“I wish I hadn’t cried so much!”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#107
“Well, that was the silliest tea party I ever went to! I am never going back there again!”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#108
“If it had grown up, it would have made a dreadfully ugly child, but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#109
“I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could if I only knew how to begin.”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#110
“How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards! The antipathies, I think.”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#111
“I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other, but the great question is ‘What?’”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#112
“I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward!”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#113
“Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?”
— Alice, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
1 Quote by Dormouse
#114
“You know you say things are ‘much of a muchness’ — did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?”
— Dormouse, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
2 Quotes by the King
#115
“He must have imitated somebody else’s hand.”
— The King, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#116
“Important—unimportant—unimportant—important— as if he were trying which word sounded best.”
— The King, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
3 Quotes by the Caterpillar
#117
“Of course. Anyone can go by horse or rail, but the absolute best way to travel is by a hat. Have I made a rhyme?”
— Caterpillar, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#118
“Keep your temper.”
— Caterpillar, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#119
“It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.”
— Caterpillar, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
4 Quotes by the Queen
#120
“Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
— The Queen, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#121
“Off with their heads!”
— The Queen, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#122
“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”
— The Queen, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#123
“I could have done it in a much more complicated way.”
— The Queen, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
2 Quotes by March
#124
“It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited.”
— March, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
#125
“Then you should say what you mean.”
— March, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
1 Quote by The Mouse
#126
“Mine is a long and a sad tale!”
— The Mouse, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
1 Quote by Lory
#127
“I’m older than you, and must know better.”
— Lory, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
1 Quote by Mock Turtle
#128
“No wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise.”
— Mock Turtle, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
1 Quote by Old Crab
#129
“Ah, my dear! Let this be a lesson to you never to lose your temper.”
— Old Crab, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland