Shel Silverstein Quotes (53 Quotes)




    I know a way to stay friends forever, There's really nothing to it, I tell you what to do, And you do it.

    If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain't enough!

    Imagine - four years you could have spent travelling around Europe meeting people, or going to the Far East of Africa or India, meeting people, exchanging ideas, reading all you wanted to anyway, and instead I wasted it at Roosevelt.


    Rockabye Baby, in the treetop; Dont you know a treetopis no safe place to rock; And who put you up there, and your cradle too; Baby, I think someone down herehas got it in for you.


    Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.

    I tripped on my shoelace And I fell up Up to the roof tops, Up over the town, .... But it got me so dizzy When I looked around, I got sick to my stomach And I threw down.

    If you are a dreamer, come in, If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer... If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in Come in.


    If you want to find out what a writer or a cartoonist really feels, look at his work. That's enough.



    Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
    And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
    For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
    The place where the sidewalk ends.

    You'd better get your laugh while you're making your point, or you won't be doing it very long.

    Somebody has to go polish the stars, They're looking a little bit dull. Somebody has to go polish the stars, For the eagles and starlings and gulls Have all been complaining they're tarnished and worn, They say they want new ones we cannot afford. So please get your rags And your polishing jars, Somebody has to go polish the stars.

    My dad gave me a dollar bill 'Cause I'm his smartest son, And I swapped it for two shiny quarters 'Cause two is more than one .... And the fool gave me five pennies for them, And five is more than four And then I went and showed my dad, And he got red in the cheeks And closed his eyes and shook his head Too proud of me to speak.


    This bridge will only take you halfway there, to those mysterious lands you long to see. Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fair, and moonlit woods where unicorns run free. So come and walk awhile with me and share the twisting trails and wonderous worlds Ive known. But this bridge will only take you halfway there. The last few steps you have to take alone.

    I would hope that people, no matter what age, would find something to identify with in my books, pick one up and experience a personal sense of discovery. That's great. But for them, not for me.

    God says to me with a kind of smile, 'Hey how would you like to be God awhile And steer the world' .... 'How much do I get What time is lunch' .... 'Gimme back that wheel,' says God. 'I don't think you're quite ready yet.'

    Tell me I'm clever, Tell me I'm kind, Tell me I'm talented, Tell me I'm cute, Tell me I'm sensitive, Graceful and wise, Tell me I'm perfect - But tell me the truth.


    To me, freedom entitles you to do something, not to not do something.

    Once I heard and answered all the questions
    of the crickets,
    And joined the crying of each falling dying
    flake of snow,
    Once I spoke the language of the flowers.

    Never explain what you do. It speaks for itself. You only muddle it by talking about it.

    I believe that if you don't want to do anything, then sit there and don't do it, but don't expect people to hand you a corn beef sandwich and wash your socks for you and unzip your fly for you.

    If you're behind the times, they won't notice you. If you're right in tune with them, you're no better than they are, so they won't care much for you. Be just a little ahead of them.

    The laughter spread for miles around
    To every city, every town,
    Over mountains, 'cross the sea,
    From Saint Tropez to Mun San Nee.

    I made an airplane out of stone... I always did like staying home.

    Stand-up comics reflect less of a visual humor and more of a commentary.

    'I cannot go to school today,' Said little Peggy Ann McKay. 'I have the measles and the mumps, A gash, a rash, and purple bumps. My mouth is wet, my throat is dry, I'm going blind in my right eye. .... 'What's that What's that you say You say today is ... Saturday G'bye, I'm going out to play'

    He has the obligation to society that any human being has. I don't think a satirist has any greater obligation to society than a bricklayer or anybody else.


    Did you hear 'bout Ticklish Tom He got tickled by his mom. Wiggled and giggled and fell on the floor, .... And all the more that he kept gigglin', All the more folks kept ticklin'. He shrieked and screamed and rolled around, Laughed his way right out of town. Through the country down the road, He got tickled by a toad. .... Giggling, rolling on his back He rolled on the railroad track. Rumble, rumble, whistle, roar Tom ain't ticklish any more.



    When the light turns green, you go.When the light turns red, you stop.But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots

    The hens they all cackle, the roosters all beg, But I will not hatch, I will not hatch. For I hear all the talk of pollution and war As the people all shout and the airplane roar, So I'm staying in here where it's safe and it's warm, And I WILL NOT HATCH

    Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
    Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
    Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
    And shared a conversation with the housefly
    in my bed.

    I was so lucky that I didn't have anyone to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style, I was creating before I knew there was a Thurber, a Benchley, a Price and a Steinberg. I never saw their work until I was around thirty.


    Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
    and some guy would laugh and I'd bust his head,
    I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue.


    'A genuine anteater,' The pet man told my dad. Turned out, it was an aunt eater, And now my uncle's mad.


    I will not play tug o' war. I'd rather play hug o' war. Where everyone hugs instead of tugs, Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins, and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.

    There's a polar bear In our Frigidaire He likes it 'cause it's cold in there. With his seat in the meat And his face in the fish .... And he lets out a roar If you open the door. And it gives me a scare To know he's in there That polary bear In our Fridgitydaire.

    There Is A Voice Inside Of YouThat Whispers All Day Long,I Feel That This Is Right For Me,I Know That This Is Wrong.No Teacher, Preacher, Parent, FriendOr Wise Man Can DecideWhat's Right For You- Just Listen ToThe Voice That Speaks Inside.


    More Shel Silverstein Quotations (Based on Topics)


    Cry - Education - People - Happiness - Nature - Fathers - Smiling - Books - Flowers - Madness - Light - Language - Home - Money & Wealth - Love - Soul - Life - Work & Career - Kiss - View All Shel Silverstein Quotations

    More Shel Silverstein Quotations (By Book Titles)


    - The Giving Tree

    Related Authors


    William Butler Yeats - T. S. Eliot - Khalil Gibran - Alexander Pope - Thomas Middleton - Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Rumi - Rainer Maria Rilke - Lucretius - Edgar Guest


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