30+ of the best quotes from "Matilda"

Matilda by Roald Dahl is a 1988 children's novel set in a small English village. The narrative focuses on one little girl and her extraordinary life. Matilda Wormwood is a precocious child and is also highly intelligent. However, she is often misunderstood and mistreated by her neglectful parents. At school, Matilda has to face the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull. The girl loathes the way this headmistress rules the student body with fear and cruelty. However, Matilda is lucky enough to have a kind teacher, Miss Honey. This teacher provides solace by recognizing and fostering Matilda’s talents. 

This classic novel champions the power of individuality, intelligence, and justice, resonating deeply with readers who may feel out of place or undervalued in society as it encourages young readers to stand up against unfair treatment. Below are 30+ Matilda quotes amplifying the novel's message that kindness and courage can triumph over adversity.

The Best Matilda Quotes About the Value of Reading and Education

1. "All the reading she had done had given her a view of life that they had never seen."

2. "And don't worry about the bits you can't understand. Sit back and allow the words to wash around you, like music."

3. "'Do you think that all children's books ought to have funny bits in them?' Miss Honey asked. 'I do,' Matilda said. 'Children are not so serious as grown-ups and love to laugh.'"

4. '"I'm wondering what to read next,' Matilda said. 'I've finished all the children's books.'"

5. "So Matilda's strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea."

6. "There is little point in teaching anything backwards. The whole object of life, Headmistress, is to go forwards."

7. "There's nothin' you can get from a book that you can't get from a television fastah!"

8. "'In a book from the library,' Matilda said. 'And that means it goes so fast that you can't even hear the separate beats. It must sound like a buzz.'"

9. "'We don't hold with book-reading,' Mr. Wormwood said. 'You can't make a living from sitting on your fanny and reading story-books.'"

10. "'Did you know,' Matilda said suddenly, 'that the heart of a mouse beats at the rate of six hundred and fifty times a second?'"

11. "The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives."

The Best Matilda Quotes About the Critique of Society and Norms

1. "'A book?! What d'you wanna flaming book for?... We've got a lovely telly with a  12-inch screen, and now ya wanna book!'"

2. "A girl should think about making herself look attractive so she can get a good husband later on. Looks is more important than books, Miss Hunky..."

The Best Matilda Quotes About the Value of Individual Traits and Growth

1. "Being very small and very young, the only power Matilda had over anyone in her family was brain-power."

2. "I cannot for the life of me understand why small children take so long to grow up. I think they do it deliberately, just to annoy me."

3. "I have found it impossible to talk to anyone about my problems. I couldn't face the embarrassment, and anyway I lack the courage."

4. "Any courage I had was knocked out of me when I was young. But now, all of sudden I have a sort of desperate wish to tell everything to somebody.

5. "We may be small but we’re quite tough."

The Best Matilda Quotes About Human Nature and Interactions

1. "I'm afraid men are not always quite as clever as they think they are. You will learn that when you get a bit older, my girl."

2. "Fiona has the same glacial beauty of an iceberg, but unlike the iceberg she has absolutely nothing below the surface."

The Best Matilda Quotes About the Boldness and Action

1. "I've always said to myself that if a little pocket calculator can do it why shouldn't I?"

2. "Matilda said, ‘Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable…’ "

3. "The only sensible thing to do when you are attacked is, as Napoleon once said, to counter-attack."

4. "All of a sudden she found that she was frightened by nobody in the world."

5. "She felt fairly confident that with a great deal of practice and effort, she would succeed in the end."

The Best Matilda Quotes About Parental Perceptions and Family Dynamics

1. "In any event, parents never underestimated the abilities of their own children. Quite the reverse."

2. "It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful."

3. "'What a nice child she is,' Miss Honey thought. 'I don't care what her father said about her, she seems very quiet and gentle to me.'"

The Best Matilda Quotes About Encouragement and Support

1. "These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone."

2. "What she needed was just one person, one wise and sympathetic grown-up who could help her."