L. Frank Baum Quotes

People lose a lot of time in hating others, and there's no fun in it at all.

Imagination has brought mankind through the Dark Ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity. Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities. So I believe that dreams - day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing - are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to create, to invent, and therefore to foster civilization.

You see, in this country are a number of youths who do not like to work, and the college is an excellent place for them.

"Can't you give me brains?" asked the Scarecrow.
"You don't need them. You are learning something every day. A baby has brains, but it doesn't know much. Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more experience you are sure to get."

People would rather live in homes regardless of its grayness. There is no place like home.

During the year I stood there I had known was the loss of my heart. While I was in love I was the happiest man on earth.

My people have been wearing green glasses on their eyes for so long that most of them think this really is an Emerald City.

All the same,' said the Scarecrow, 'I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one.'
I shall take the heart,' returned the Tin Woodman, 'for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.

To please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward.

And remember, my sentimental friend, that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.

To be angry once in a while is really good fun, because it makes others so miserable. But to be angry morning, noon and night, as I am, grows monotonous and prevents my gaining any other pleasure in life.

"He is my dog, Toto," answered Dorothy.
"Is he made of tin, or stuffed?" asked the Lion.
"Neither. He's a — a — a meat dog," said the girl.

Time is given us to be happy and for no other reason [...] When we waste time, we waste happiness.

"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible,"
spoke the Beast, in a voice that was one great roar.
Who are you, and why do you seek me?

If your heads were stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably all live in the beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains.