Theodor Seuss “Ted” Geisel (1904-1991) was an American children’s author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name Dr. Seuss.
Here are several of his memorable observations:
o Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.
o Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
o A person’s a person, no matter how small.
o You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction YOU choose.
o I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.
o The more that you read, the more you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
o You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So… get on your way!
o From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.
o “Being crazy isn’t enough.”
o “They say I’m old-fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast!”
o “How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”
“Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.”
“Simple it’s not, I am afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.”
“Today I shall behave, as if this is the day for which I will be remembered.”
“In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”
“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.”
o Unless someone like you really cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s just not.
o The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
o Think and wonder, wonder and think.
o So open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!
o “So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you’ll move mountains.”
o “Only you can control your future.”
o “It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.”
o “Remember me and smile, for it’s better to forget than to remember me and cry.”
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To learn more about his life and work, I highly recommend Brian Jay Jones’s recent and, in my opinion, definitive biography, Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination, published by Dutton (2019).