Small animals are a great problem. I wish God had never created small animals, or else that He had made them so they could talk, or else that He’d given them better faces. Space. Take moths. They fly at the lamp and burn themsleves, and then they fly right back again. It can’t be instinct, because it isn’t the way it works. They just don’t understand, so they go right on doing it. Then they lie on their backs and all their legs quiver, and then they’re dead. Did you get all that? Does it sound good?” “Very good,” Grandmother said. Sophia stood up and shouted, “Say this: say I hate everything that dies slow! Say I hate everything that won’t let you help! Did you write that?
Tove Jansson, from her book The Summer Book.
All men have parties and are pals who never let each other down. A pal can say terrible things which are forgotten the next day. A pal never forgives, he just forgets, and a woman forgives but never forgets. That’s how it is. That’s why women aren’t allowed to have parties. Being forgiven is very unpleasant.
Tove Jansson, from her book A Winter Book.
"I used to stand before the mirror and look deep in my unhappy eyes and heave sighs such as: ‘Oh cruel fate!’ ‘Oh terrible lot’ ‘Nevermore.’ And in a few minutes I felt a little bit better."
Moominpappa, from the book The Exploits of Moominpappa.
Schools of sea spooks crossed our course, and now and then a tittering trail of mermaids appeared in our wake. We fed them with oatmeal.
Moominpappa, from the book Moominpappa’s Memoirs.
And all you can do is just read, she said. She raised her voice an screamed, “You just read and read and read!” Then she threw herself down on the table and wept.
Tove Jansson, from her book The Summer Book.
Let’s wrap ourselves up in the blankets and wait until the sun comes up. So they sat in a row on the shore, huddled up against each other. Sniff wanted to sit in the middle because he felt that was the safest place to be.
 Sniff from the book Comet in Moominland.
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.
Tove Jansson, from her book The Summer Book.
I need to write down my observations. Even the tiniest ones; they’re the most important.
Tove Jansson, from her book Art in Nature.

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?

Tove Jansson, from her book Travelling Light.
Smell is important. It reminds a person of all the things he’s been through; it is a sheath of memories and security.
Tove Jansson, from the book The Summer Book.
My bag was as light as my happy-go-lucky heart.
Tove Jansson, from the book Travelling Light.