Our imagination is a significant part of who we are, so let it run wild through this collection of Where the Wild Things Are quotes!
If there’s one thing lacking from us being adults, it’s the ability to use our imaginations to the fullest. Maurice Sendak said, “Children do live in fantasy and reality; they move back and forth very easily in a way we no longer remember how to do.”
So, in one of his most famous works, Where the Wild Things Are, he allowed children and adults to explore the depths of their imaginations. It takes us to a vast world filled with wild things where anything we want to happen can happen.
Through Max’s character, Maurice Sendak allowed us to reflect on our emotions as a tool for self-growth, friendship and differences, and more. The lessons he had embedded were further cemented into our hearts when the book was adapted into a movie in 2009.
Find beauty in all the wild things life offers through this list we’ve created. Here are the best Where the Wild Things Are quotes from the book and the movie!
And don’t forget to check out these Beauty and the Beast quotes.
Best Where the Wild Things Are Quotes
1. “Inside all of us is hope. Inside all of us is fear. Inside all of us is adventure. Inside all of us is a wild thing.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
2. “Happiness isn’t always the best way to be happy.” – Judith
3. “And Max, the king of all wild things, was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
4. Max: “Carol, did you know the sun was gonna die?”
Carol: “What? I never heard that. Oh, come on. That can’t happen. I mean, you’re the king and look at me, I’m big! how can guys like us worry about a tiny little thing like the sun, hmm?”
5. “You know what I say. If you got a problem, eat it.” – Judith
6. “And now, let the wild rumpus start!” – Max
7. “He’s just a boy, pretending to be a wolf, pretending to be king.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
Where the Wild Things Are Quotes to Add Meaning to Your Day
8. “There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen.” – Carol
9. Douglas: “Will you keep out all the sadness?”
Max: “I have a sadness shield that keeps out all the sadness, and it’s big enough for all of us.”
10. “When you go home, will you say good things about us?” – Bernard The Bull
11. “There must be more to life than having everything!” – Maurice Sendak, Author
12. “Max stepped into his private boat and waved goodbye and sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him—and it was still hot.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
Where the Wild Things Are Quotes From the Movie
13. “I don’t talk to owls. Owls are stupid. I don’t apologize to owls. Owls are stupid.” – Carol
14. “Yeah, it’s gonna be as tall as 12 of you and 6 of me. And only we can get in.” – Max
15. “If I was stranded on a desert island and could only take one thing, it’d be Douglas. We can share him if you want.” – Carol
16. Carol: “This part of your kingdom’s not so good.”
Max: “Why?”
Carol: “Well, look: this used to be all rock, and now it’s sand, and then, one day, it’s going to be dust, and then the whole island will be dust, and then—well, I don’t even know what comes after dust.”
17. “I didn’t wanna wake you up, but I really want to show you something.” – Carol
18. “We were gonna make a whole world like this. Now, everyone used to come here, but you know—you know what it feels like when all your teeth are falling out really slowly, and you don’t realize, and then you notice that, well, they’re really far apart. And then one day, you don’t have any teeth anymore.” – Carol
19. Carol: “So, whatever happened with you and the Vikings?”
Max: “Well, in the end, I had to leave.”
Carol: “Why?”
Max: “I’m not a Viking or a king, or—or anything.”
Carol: “So, what are you?”
Max: “I’m Max.”
Carol: “Well, that’s not very much, is it?”
Where the Wild Things Are Quotes for Fans of the Book
20. “But then the wild things cried, ‘Oh, please don’t go—we’ll eat you up—we love you so.’” – Maurice Sendak, Author
21. “He sailed—through night and day—over a year to where the wild things are.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
22. “Then from far away across the world he smelled good things to eat, so he gave up being king of the wild things.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
23. “The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind, and another. His mother called him ‘wild thing,’ and Max said, ‘I’ll eat you up!’ So he was sent to bed without eating anything.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
24. “And the wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
25. “I have nothing now but praise for my life. I’m not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die, and I can’t stop them. They leave me, and I love them more. What I dread is the isolation. There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
Short Where the Wild Things Are Quotes That Are Perfect Instagram Captions
26. “There is no such thing as fantasy unrelated to reality.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
27. “We’ll take care of each other, and we’ll all sleep together in a real pile.” – Max
28. “You’re funny looking. That’s all.” – KW
29. “Small is good. My powers are able to slip right through the cracks.” – Max
30. “That night, in Max’s room, a forest grew until the walls became the world.” – Maurice Sendak, Author
What Insights Did You Gain From This Collection?
Maurice Sendak said there’s a wild thing in all of us. However, perhaps our wildness is more unrestrained in childhood than in adulthood.
Sadly, when we grow older, we forget all the value our imaginations add to our lives. Perhaps this is also the reason for Max’s conflict with his mother.
These conflicts opened the door for Max to enter his make-believe reality, where all the wild things are and where he was king. In his world, no one was there to tell him what he could and couldn’t do.
It was a product of his imagination. Yet, the world he created taught him many meaningful things about life.
It taught him that deep bonds of friendship could be built and made stronger by our differences. Where the Wild Things Are also helps us understand the wildness we have inside and why we should accept it; we should feel our feelings, as that’s the only way to tame them!
Where the Wild Things Are and its quotes will make your head turn with all the profound and meaningful messages they offer. So, remember all the lessons you’ve learned here today and live out your wild side!
