The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives.
Nowadays you can go anywhere in the world in a few hours, and nothing is fabulous any more.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on how modern advancements in travel have diminished the sense of wonder associated with exploring new places.
In this quote, Roald Dahl expresses a sentiment about the effects of globalization and technological advancements on our perception of travel. With the ability to reach virtually any destination in a matter of hours, the extraordinary nature of exploration has been lost, leading to a world where the marvelous becomes commonplace. This speaks to a broader existential contemplation about how convenience has affected our appreciation for experiences that once felt remarkable and transformative.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about cultural appreciation, one might quote this to emphasize how ease of access can lessen the appreciation of different cultures.
More from Roald Dahl
All quotes βMatilda said, "Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable.
I asked my mum, who's a very clever psychotherapist, and she says that kids love stories about death; they need it, they need to have stories that deal with death and explain it, as a place to put their fears.
By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good writing is essentially rewriting. I am positive of this.
You seemed so far away," Miss Honey whispered, awestruck. "Oh, I was. I was flying past the stars on silver wings," Matilda said. "It was wonderful.
If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.
Similar quotes
I'm really interested in how you create a whole new economy of recycling. It's literally the 'underground economy.' All this stuff that on the surface creates growth and profit, ends up with waste, junk, and CO2. So how do you make it economic to bring new players into the ball game?
The world fears a new experience more than it fears anything. Because a new experience displaces so many old experiences. . . . The world doesn't fear a new idea. It can pigeon-hole any idea. But it can't pigeon-hole a real new experience.
Irrespective of todays judgment and the price we had to pay in this generation, we were able to close an epoch of divisions, different blocs and borders, opening the way for an era of globalization.
There is a miracle in every new beginning
Here in Georgia, we continue to grapple with our own vestiges of hate. The image carved into Stone Mountain, like Confederate monuments across this state, stand as constant reminders of racism, intolerance, and division.
But the beginning of things, of a world especially, is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing. How few of us ever emerge from such beginning! How many souls perish in its tumult!