60 Matilda Quotes From The Book & Movie

These Matilda quotes from the book and movie will make you lost in the timeless tale.

Matilda is a popular children’s novel written by Roald Dahl published in 1988. The story is about a young girl who is unbelievably smart and incredibly skilled.

This book is a magical tale about a girl who is gifted with extraordinary powers of telekinesis and can move things with her mind. These powers allow her to stand up for what she believes in and fight back against the nasty headmistress and bullies at school.

Matilda Book and Movie Quotes

As a kid, I loved reading this book and all of Roald Dahl’s other books. His stories were so vivid and descriptive and really helped me to imagine what it would be like to have supernatural powers. As an adult, I think that Matilda really teaches some great lessons.

Matilda is a family favorite. This book was even turned into a movie that was released in 1996. The movie received good reviews but was unsuccessful at the box office.

Here we are sharing a collection of Matilda book and movie quotes to help you to remeber the childhood classic.

Matilda Quotes

“Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world.” – Matilda

“If you are good, life is good.” – Matilda

“All the reading she had done had given her a view of life that they had never seen.” – Matilda

“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.” – Matilda

“By the time she was three, Matilda had taught herself to read by studying newspapers and magazines that lay around the house. At the age of four, she could read fast and well, and she naturally began hankering after books.” – Matilda

“Sometimes Matilda longed for a friend, someone like the kind, courageous people in her books.” – Matilda

“I’m wondering what to read next. I’ve finished all the children’s books.” – Matilda

“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. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.” – Matilda

“I was flying past the stars on silver wings. I was wonderful.” – Matilda

“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…” – Matilda

Miss Trunchbull Quotes From Matilda

“My school is a model of discipline! Use the rod, beat the child, that’s my motto.” – Miss Trunchbull

”I have discovered…that a bad girl is a far more dangerous creature than a bad boy. What’s more, they’re much harder to squash. Nasty dirty things, little girls are. Glad I never was one.” – Miss Trunchbull

“You couldn’t spell “difficulty” if your life depended on it.” – Miss Trunchbull

”Small people should never be seen by anybody. They should be kept out of sight in boxes like hairpins and buttons. I cannot for the life of me see why children have to take so long to grow up. I think they do it on purpose.” – Miss Trunchbull

“What nonsense. You are not supposed to learn long words like that until you are at least eight or nine.” – Miss Trunchbull

“I’m right and you’re wrong. I’m big and you’re small, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” – Miss Trunchbull

”And I’ll tell you what. I wish to heavens I was still allowed to use the birch and belt as I did in the good old days! I’d have roasted Matilda’s bottom for her so she couldn’t sit down for a month!” – Miss Trunchbull

“Wormwood! You useless, used-car-salesman scum! I want you around here now with another car! Yes, I know what caveat emptor means, you low life liar! I’m gonna sue you. I’m gonna burn down your showroom! I’m gonna take that no-good jalopy you sold me and shove it up your bazooga! When I’m finished with you, you’re gonna look like roadkill!” – Miss Trunchbull

“I have never been able to understand why small children are so disgusting. They’re the bane of my life. They’re like insects: they should be got rid of as early as possible.” – Miss Trunchbull

“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.” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

Roald Dahl Matilda Quotes

“Fiona has the same glacial beauty of an iceburg, but unlike the iceburg she has absolutely nothing below the surface.” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

“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.” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

“And don’t worry about the bits you can’t understand. Sit back and allow the words to wash around you, like music.” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

“All the reading she had done had given her a view of life that they had never seen. If only they would read a little Dickens or Kipling they would soon discover there was more to life than cheating people and watching television.” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

“You ignorant little slug!” the Trunchbull bellowed. “You witless weed! You empty-headed hamster! You stupid glob of glue!” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

“There aren’t many funny bits in Mr Tolkien either,’ Matilda said.
‘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.” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

“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 name is Honey,” Miss Honey said.
“Now look at me,” Mrs Wormwood said. “Then look at you. You chose books. I chose looks.” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

“What she needed was just one person, one wise and sympathetic grown-up who could help her.” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

“I’ve always said to myself that if a little pocket calculator can do it why shouldn’t I?” – Roald Dahl, Matilda

“The only sensible thing to do when you are attacked is, as Napoleon once said, to counter-attack.” ― Roald Dahl, Matilda

Matilda Movie Quotes And Dialogue

“Parents never underestimated the abilities of their own children. Quite the reverse. Sometimes it was well nigh impossible for a teacher to convince the proud father or mother that their beloved offspring was a complete nitwit.” – Matilda

“There was a moment of silence, and Matilda, who had never before heard great romantic poetry spoke aloud, was profoundly moved. ‘It’s like music,’ she whispered.” – Matilda

“The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives. She went on olden-day sailing ships with Joseph Conrad. She went to Africa with Ernest Hemingway and to India with Rudyard Kipling. She traveled all over the world while sitting in her little room in an English village.” – Matilda

“Occasionally one comes across parents who take the opposite line, who show no interest at all in their children, and these of course are far worse than the doting ones. Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood were two such parents.” – Matilda

“With frightening suddenness, he now began ripping the pages out of the book in handfuls and throwing them in the waste-paper basket. Matilda froze in horror. The father kept going. There seemed little doubt that the man felt some kind of jealousy.” – Matilda

“His [Mr. Wormwood] speech was never very delicate but Matilda was used to it. She also knew that he liked to boast and she would egg him on shamelessly.” – Matilda

“Mrs. Wormwood was hooked on bingo and played it five afternoons a week.” – Matilda

“She [my mother] doesn’t really care what I do.” – Matilda

“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.” – Matilda

“The parents, instead of applauding her, called her a noisy chatterbox and told her sharply that small girls should be seen and not heard.” – Matilda

Miss Honey Quotes

“A precocious child is one that shows amazing intelligence early on. You are an unbelievably precocious child.” – Miss Honey

“I think what I am trying to explain to you is that over the years I became so completely cowed and dominated by this monster of an aunt that when she gave me an order, no matter what it was, I obeyed it instantly. That can happen, you know. And by the time I was ten, I had become her slave.” – Miss Honey

“I hated her [my aunt] right from the start. I missed my mother terribly. And the aunt was not a kind person. My father didn’t know that because he was hardly ever around but when he did put in an appearance, the aunt behaved differently.” – Miss Honey

“Because we are playing with mysterious forces, my child, that we know nothing about. I do not think they are evil. They may be good. They may even be divine. But whether they are or not, let us handle them carefully.” – Miss Honey

“Miss Honey felt confident that she would have no difficulty in convincing Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood that Matilda was something very special indeed. The trouble was going to be to stop them from getting over-enthusiastic.” – Miss Honey

“Matilda’s trouble is that she is so far ahead of everyone else around her that it might be worth thinking about some extra kind of private tuition. I seriously believe that she could be brought up to the university standard in two or three years with the proper coaching.” – Miss Honey

“The Headmistress is very strict about everything. Make sure your clothes are clean, your faces are clean and your hands are clean. Speak only when spoken to.” – Miss Honey

“So far as I know, nobody else in the history of the world has been able to compel an object to move without touching it or blowing on it or using any outside help at all.” – Miss Honey

“There is little point in teaching anything backwards. The whole object of life, Headmistress, is to go forwards.” – Miss Honey

“‘I have found it impossible to talk to anyone about my problems. I couldn’t face the embarrassment, and anyway I lack the courage. Any courage I had was knocked out of me when I was young. But now, all of a sudden I have a sort of desperate wish to tell everything to somebody. I know you are only a tiny little girl, but there is some kind of magic in you somewhere. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” – Miss Honey

Matilda Book Quotes

“Matilda was appalled. Was this really where her neat and trimly-dressed school teacher lived? Was this all she had to come back to after a day’s work? It was unbelievable. And what was the reason for it? There was something very strange going on around here, surely.” – Miss Honey

“To read? Why would you want to read when you got the television set sitting right in front of you? There’s nothing you can get from a book that you can’t get from a television faster.” – Harry Wormwood

“A girl doesn’t get a man by being brainy.” – Mrs. Wormwood

“I want to be in school. I told you I was supposed to start school in September. You wouldn’t listen.” – Matilda

“I’m nothing like my father.” – Matilda

“Most children in Matilda’s place would have burst into floods of tears. She didn’t do this. She sat there very still and white and thoughtful. She seemed to know that neither crying nor sulking ever got anyone anywhere.” – Matilda

“She felt as though she had touched something that was not quite of this world, the highest point of the heaves, the farthest star. She had felt most wonderfully the power surging up behind her eyes, gushing like warm fluid inside her sull and her eyes had become scorching hot, hotter than ever before, and things had come bursting out of her eye-sockets and then the piece of chalk had lifted itself up and had begun to write.” – Matilda

“She resented being told constantly that she was ignorant and stupid when she knew she wasn’t.” – Matilda

“Miss Honey was still hugging the tiny girl in her arms and neither of them said a word as they stood there watching the big black car tearing round the corner at the end of the road and disappearing forever into the distance.” – Matilda

“Cake. CHOCOLATE cake. You slithered like a serpent into the school kitchen and ate MY PERSONAL SNACK!” – Miss Trunchbull

Did you enjoy these Matilda quotes?

The characters in Matilda are quite interesting. You would love to hate Matilda’s parents and her teacher Ms. Trunchbull but would love her another teacher Miss Honey. Miss Honey is a lovable teacher who supports Matilda and help her to develop her powers. All the characters are strong and make for an exciting storyline to follow.

If you are feeling low then Matilda will help you to spend your day well or even put a smile of your face. We hope these matilda quotes from the book and movie will make you smile and let you lost in some of your childhood memories.

Do share your thoughts with us in the comment section and tell us which one was your favorite from all of the Matilda quotes or if you want to ask any questions or have any query send them via Contact Us

If you can connect with these Matilda quotes, subscribe to our blog so that you don’t miss a single post. Get future posts by email, or you can follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. It’s totally FREE.

Read More….