Source identified1
“We’re all mad here.”
The Cheshire Cat turns abnormality into a shared condition, humorously questioning who gets to define what counts as normal.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Quotes by Lewis Carroll: Context & Meanings
7 quotations linked to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by or associated with Lewis Carroll, with source notes, explanations and related topics.
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7 quotations with source context and meaning
Source identified2
“Curiouser and curiouser!”
The playful exclamation captures the feeling of encountering a world that keeps becoming stranger than the rules used to explain it.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 2.
Source identified3
“Sentence first—verdict afterwards.”
The Queen’s order makes judicial procedure absurd by reversing its basic sequence, turning arbitrary authority into unmistakable nonsense.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 12; the Queen interrupts the trial with the reversed command.
Source identified4
“Why is a raven like a writing-desk?”
The riddle is memorable because it originally arrives without a practical answer, making nonsense itself part of the social game at the tea party.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 7; the Mad Hatter asks Alice the famous riddle at the tea party.
Source identified5
“What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?”
Alice judges a book by the kinds of things that keep a child engaged, making the line both playful and a useful reminder that reading is experiential.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 1; Alice thinks about the book her sister is reading before the White Rabbit appears.
Source identified6
“Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
The comic instruction reduces a complicated task to sequence: start, continue, and recognize when the work is complete.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 12.
Source identified7
“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
Change makes perfect return impossible; the person who revisits yesterday already carries experiences that alter the comparison.
Source note: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.