"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."
"If I were a teacher I would cook up some real scorchers for the children of doting parents."
"To tell the truth, I doubt they would have noticed had she crawled into the house with a broken leg."
"All the reading she had done had given her a view of life that they had never seen."
"Some curious warmth that was almost tangible shone out of Miss Honey's face when she spoke to a confused and homesick newcomer to the class."
"Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog."
"The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives."
"I'm right and you're wrong, I'm big and you're small, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world."
"With frightening suddenness, he now began ripping the pages out of the book in handfuls and throwing them in the waste-paper basket."
"I've always said to myself that if a little pocket calculator can do it why shouldn't I?"
"Children are not so serious as grown-ups and they love to laugh."
"If I tell you to eat, you will eat! You wanted cake! You stole cake! And now you've got cake! What's more, you're going to eat it!"
"Suddenly the Trunchbull lunged forward and grabbed the large empty china platter on which the cake had rested."
"The boy was by now so full of cake he was like a sackful of wet cement."
"I have some important news for you, so listen carefully."
"The Headmistress is very strict about everything."
"I am quite sure she will be testing you on what you are meant to have learnt this week."
"A jug of water and a glass must always be on the table here when the Headmistress comes in."
"Already Lavender's scheming mind was going over the possibilities."
"It was her turn now to become a heroine if only she could come up with a brilliant plot."
"The newt, although fairly common in English ponds, is not often seen by ordinary people."
"She lay on the bank for a long time waiting patiently until she spotted a whopper."
"Lavender didn't quite believe that, but she was not prepared to risk it happening."
"Quick as a flash, Lavender got her pencil-box from her satchel."
"What a bunch of nauseating little warts you are."
"The Trunchbull's whole body and face seemed to swell up."
"Nigel spelled it correctly which surprised the Trunchbull."
"Two sevens are fourteen! Two sevens are fourteen!"
"I don't like small people," she was saying. "Small people should never be seen by anybody."
"You sit wrong! You look wrong! You speak wrong! You are wrong all round!"
"The word 'what' is spelled W . . . H . . . A . . . T. Now spell it, you little wart!"
"That's the way to make them learn, Miss Honey."
"I am fed up with you useless bunch of midgets!"
"I don't take a bath," Miss Honey said. "I wash standing up."
"I'm afraid I don't have any sugar," she said. "I never use it."
"It was like an illustration in Grimm or Hans Andersen."
"I simply don't know," Matilda said. "But it would be fun to find out."
"We mustn't hurry this," Miss Honey said, "so let's have another cup of tea."
"You are so much wiser than your years, my dear," Miss Honey went on, "that it quite staggers me."
"Any courage I had was knocked out of me when I was young."
"I am very sorry I asked you those questions, Miss Honey. It is not any of my business."
"You haven't seen anything," Miss Honey said. "After my father died, when I was five and a half, she used to make me bath myself all alone."
"Isn't it awfully cold in the winter?" "I've got my little paraffin stove," Miss Honey said. "You'd be surprised how snug I can make it in here."
"What's the matter with you?" the mother said, waking her up. "Are you ill?" "Oh gosh, I'm all right. I was a bit tired, that's all."
"I hate her," Nigel said. "Try not to make it so obvious," Miss Honey said. "It doesn't pay."
"She's fainted!" she cried. "She's out cold! Someone go and fetch the matron at once."
"By golly, somebody's floored her at last!" cried one of the men, grinning. "Congratulations, Miss Honey!"
"I would love to have Matilda," Miss Honey said. "I would look after her with loving care, Mr Wormwood, and I would pay for everything."