Louise Fitzhugh > Quotes

“Don't mess with anybody on a Monday. It's a bad, bad day.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“[Harriet] hated math. She hated math with every bone in her body. She spent so much time hating it that she never had time to do it.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Sometimes you have to lie. But to yourself you must always tell the truth.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Ole Golly: You know what? You're an individual, and that makes people nervous. And it's gonna keep making people nervous for the rest of your life.”
― Louise Fitzhugh

“People who love work, love life.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“WHEN SOMEBODY GOES AWAY THERE'S THINGS YOU WANT TO TELL THEM. WHEN SOMEBODY DIES MAYBE THAT'S THE WORST THING. YOU WANT TO TELL THEM THINGS THAT HAPPEN AFTER.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Little lies that make people feel better are not bad, like thanking someone for a meal they made even if you hated it, or telling a sick person they look better when they don't, or someone with a hideous new hat that it's lovely. But to yourself you must tell the truth”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“YOU CAN'T BE TOO OLD TO SPY EXCEPT IF YOU WERE FIFTY YOU MIGHT FALL OFF A FIRE ESCAPE, BUT YOU COULD SPY AROUND ON THE GROUND A LOT.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Life is a struggle and a good spy goes in there and fights.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“LIFE IS A GREAT MYSTERY. IS EVERYBODY A DIFFERENT PERSON WHEN THEY ARE WITH SOMEBODY ELSE?”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“She didn't care anymore... and she got no pleasure from the work she did, but she did it. Everything bored her. She found that when she didn't have a notebook it was hard for her to think. The thoughts came slowly, as though they had to squeeze through a tiny door to get to her, whereas when she wrote, they flowed out faster than she could put them down. She sat very stupidly with a blank mind until finall 'I feel different' came slowly to her mind.

Yes, she thought, after a long pause. And then, after more time, 'Mean, I feel mean.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“I WONDER IF WHEN YOU DREAM ABOUT SOMEBODY THEY DREAM ABOUT YOU.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“This was too much. "I refuse. I absolutely REFUSE to be an onion.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“There are as many ways to live as there are people.”
― Louise Fitzhugh

“Ole Golly: The time has come, the walrus said...
Harriet M. Welsch: To talk of many things...
Ole Golly: Of shoes and ships and ceiling wax...
Harriet M. Welsch: Of cabbages and kings...
Ole Golly: And why the sea is boiling hot...
Harriet M. Welsch: And whether pigs have wings!”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Life is very strange.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“I feel all the same things when I do things alone as when Ole Golly was here. The bath feels hot, the bed feels soft, but I feel there's a funny little hole in me that wasn't there before, like a splinter in your finger, but this is somewhere above my stomach.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Harriet: Is it fun being married?
Ole Golly: How should I know? I've never been married. However, I doubt it's all fun. Nothing ever is, you know.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Harriet: How do you practice being an onion?”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“THERE IS MORE TO THIS THING OF LOVE THAN MEETS THE EYE. I AM GOING TO HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THIS A GREAT DEAL BUT I DON'T THINK IT WILL GET ME ANYWHERE. I THINK MAYBE THEY'RE ALL RIGHT WHEN THEY SAY THERE ARE DOME THINGS I WON'T KNOW ABOUT UNTIL I'M OLDER.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“I had”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“I feel there's a funny little hole in me that wasn't there before, like a splinter in your finger, but this is somewhere above my stomach.”
― Louise Fitzhugh

“JANIE GETS STRANGER EVERY YEAR.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Writing is to put love into the world.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Harriet pushed her hair back and looked at him seriously. 'Sport, what are you going to be when you grow up?'

'You know what. You know I'm going to be a ball player.'

'Well, I'm going to be a writer. And when I say that's a mountain, that's a mountain.' Satisfied, she turned back to her town.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Her room felt wonderful to her, as usual. She looked around with satisfaction… She imagined to herself that she would always live this way, even after she had grown up and moved away from her family. She planned to have exactly the same room wherever she was, because this room was her. No matter what happened out there in the rest of the world, she felt totally comfortable once she got into this room and closed the door.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Nobody's Family Is Going to Change

“She never minded admitting she didn't know something. So what, she thought; I could always learn.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“When people don't do anything they don't think anything, and when people don't think anything there's nothing to think about them.- Harriet the Spy”
― Louise Fitzhugh

“IF YOU CAN KEEP YOUR HEAD WHEN ALL ABOUT YOU ARE LOSING THEIRS AND BLAMING IT ON YOU”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy

“Miss Elson came into the room and they all stood up and said, “Good morning, Miss Elson.” Miss Elson bowed and said, “Good morning, children.” Then they all sat down and punched each other.”
― Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy