Monday, December 03, 2007

Quote of the Day, 12/3/07

`I don't know what you mean by YOUR way,' said the Queen: `all the ways about here belong to ME--but why did you come out here at all?' she added in a kinder tone. `Curtsey while you're thinking what to say, it saves time.'

Alice wondered a little at this...

`I only wanted to see what the garden was like, your Majesty--'

`That's right,' said the Queen, patting her on the head, which Alice didn't like at all, `though, when you say "garden,"--I'VE seen gardens, compared with which this would be a wilderness.'

Alice didn't dare to argue the point, but went on: `--and I thought I'd try and find my way to the top of that hill--'

`When you say "hill,"' the Queen interrupted, `_I_ could show you hills, in comparison with which you'd call that a valley.'

`No, I shouldn't,' said Alice, surprised into contradicting her at last: `a hill CAN'T be a valley, you know. That would be nonsense--'

The Red Queen shook her head, `You may call it "nonsense" if you like,' she said, `but I'VE heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!'

...Just at this moment, somehow or other, they began to run.

Alice never could quite make out, in thinking it over afterwards, how it was that they began: all she remembers is, that they were running hand in hand, and the Queen went so fast that it was all she could do to keep up with her: and still the Queen kept crying `Faster! Faster!' but Alice felt she COULD NOT go faster, though she had not breath left to say so.

The most curious part of the thing was, that the trees and the other things round them never changed their places at all: however fast they went, they never seemed to pass anything...

And they went so fast that at last they seemed to skim through the air, hardly touching the ground with their feet, till suddenly, just as Alice was getting quite exhausted, they stopped, and she found herself sitting on the ground, breathless and giddy.

Alice looked round her in great surprise. `Why, I do believe we've been under this tree the whole time! Everything's just as it was!'

`Of course it is,' said the Queen, `what would you have it?'

`Well, in OUR country,' said Alice, still panting a little, `you'd generally get to somewhere else--if you ran very fast for a long time, as we've been doing.'

`A slow sort of country!' said the Queen. `Now, HERE, you see, it takes all the running YOU can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!'


--Through the Looking Glass

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I only recently started reading your blog and I just noticed the tags. Ha!

belledame222 said...

thanks. welcome, frankye.

Anonymous said...

We must be psychically connected or something. How did you know to post a quote from Through the Looking-Glass while I was writing a 16 page paper on the same book???

belledame222 said...

Ha! Good to see you, Emily. How's school?

Sassywho said...

but how am i going to own my shit if it's all so wonky?

btw, was the queen a b or c-cup?

bint alshamsa said...

This must be an Alice time of the year. Check out this interpretation of Alice in Wonderland:

My School Project

I think it's really gorgeous. The Mad Hatter in the picture is my adopted son. They are regular partners-in-crime.

By the way, have you seen this new book called "The Looking Glass Wars"? We got it for VanGoghGirl for Christmas since she's an Alice fanatic.

Anonymous said...

It's almost OVER!!! w00t! (I can't believe I just w00ted.)

Octogalore said...

"it takes all the running YOU can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

This has so many real life parallels. I've been in a ton of relationships and jobs like that.