There are few more frustrating things in life than being told something that you already know but cannot admit to knowing.

- Helen Cresswell

Machines are the opium of the masses. If all the machines in England were thrown into the North Sea tomorrow, we should be back in the Garden of Eden…

- Helen Cresswell

The only good reason for swimming, so far as I can see, is to escape drowning.

- Helen Cresswell

I got born in the wrong family.

- Helen Cresswell

A sense of humor is regarded as a sign of mental health - apart from excessive punning, which is another matter entirely.

- Helen Cresswell

I am an idle devil. But at least I work at it.

- Helen Cresswell