# Astrid Lindgren's best-known quotes, from interviews, letters and books

From "I write for the child in me" and "otherwise you're not a human being, just a little piece of dirt" to Pippi's "Terror of the Caribbean": quotes by Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002) from interviews, letters and her books, with the source of each.

- 19 votes · 15 items
- Feb 28, 2023 · Emil Larsson
- https://even.best/en/l/5323/astrid-lindgren-s-best-known-quotes-from-interviews-letters-and-books

## Top 15

1. **I write for the child in me.** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Expressen, 6 December 1970.
2. **My childhood was lived in a country that no longer exists… where did it go?** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — From Samuel August from Sevedstorp and Hanna in Hult (1975).
3. **A young, fresh and good time that is easy and simple to live in.** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Jonatan about Nangiyala in The Brothers Lionheart (1973).
4. **We are all human beings – that has been my particular passion in life.** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Letter to Louise Hartung, 1957.
5. **Oh, you can come along anyway. And dust the piano!** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Pippi to Annika in Pippi Goes on Board (1946).
6. **I have never been a patriot.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Letter to Louise Hartung, 1957.
7. **Crime doesn't pay! Honesty is the best policy.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Kalle Blomkvist in Bill Bergson, Master Detective (1946).
8. **Otherwise you're not a human being, just a little piece of dirt.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — From The Brothers Lionheart (1973); Jonatan says it to Rusky.
9. **I'm an old woman who is deaf, half blind and almost completely mad. And you've made her Swede of the Year!** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Interview on Aktuellt after being named Swede of the Year.
10. **Sleep well in my hunger tower!** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Sir Kato in Mio, My Son (1954).
11. **There were things you had to do, even if they were dangerous.** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — From The Brothers Lionheart (1973); Jonatan says it to Rusky.
12. **I haven't meant a single thing. Not with Pippi or any other book.** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Rabén & Sjögren brochure, 1972, on what she means by her books.
13. **The Terror of the Caribbean, that's what you and I will be, Tommy.** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Pippi in Pippi Goes on Board (1946).
14. **Her hair was the colour of a carrot and was braided in two stiff pigtails that stuck straight out.** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — The description of Pippi in Pippi Longstocking (1945).
15. **Two really kind and sweet girls.** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Mother, asked what she most wants for Christmas, in Mardie (1960).

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.