I always loved the silly, weird little poems that occasionally had really great messages tucked away in their made-up words, and I loved the weird line illustrations (I still remember being SHOCKED to see a butt on one of the pages!). Settle in for a reminder of just why these Shel Silverstein quotes are so special and stuck with readers for so many years.
Shel Silverstein Quotes About Friendship and Love
Buy on Etsy “If you are a dreamer come in / If you are a dreamer a wisher a liar / A hoper a pray-er a magic-bean-buyer / If you’re a pretender come sit by my fire / For we have some flax golden tales to spin / Come in!” —Shel Silverstein, Where The Sidewalk Ends “And the tree was happy.” ―Shel Silverstein, The Giving Tree “Although I cannot see your face / As you flip these poems awhile, / Somewhere from some far-off place / I hear you laughing—and I smile.” —Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein Quotes to Remind You It’s Awesome to Be You
“And all the colors I am inside have not been invented yet.” ―Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends “Underneath my outside face / There’s a face that none can see. / A little less smiley / A little less sure / But a whole lot more like me.” —Shel Silverstein “For maybe in another world / Another time / Another town, / Maybe HE is right side up / And I am upside down.” —Shel Silverstein
Get Inspired by Shel Silverstein
Buy on Etsy “If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain’t enough!” —Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends “Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” —Shel Silverstein “All the magic I have known I’ve had to make myself.” —Shel Silverstein
Buy on Etsy “There is a voice inside of you / That whispers all day long, / ‘I feel this is right for me, / I know that this is wrong.’ / No teacher, preacher, parent, friend / Or wise man can decide / What’s right for you—just listen to / The voice that speaks inside.” —Shel Silverstein “And he didn’t really know where he was going, but he did know he was going somewhere, because you really have to go somewhere, don’t you?” ―Shel Silverstein, Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back “Find me a captain and sign me a crew. / Captain and crew, captain and crew, / Take me, oh take me to anywhere new.” —Shel Silverstein
Laugh Out Loud With These Shel Silverstein Quotes
“Do a loony-goony dance / ‘Cross the kitchen floor, / Put something silly in the world / That ain’t been there before.” —Shel Silverstein “We can’t hold hands— / Someone might see. / Won’t you please / Hold toes with me?” —Shel Silverstein, Every Thing on It “My beard grows down to my toes, / I never wears no clothes, / I wraps my hair / Around my bare, / And down the road I goes.” ―Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends (The culprit of the butt drawing!) Looking for even more great poetry like Shel Silverstein? Check out our list of the best poetry books for kids. [Ed.’s Note: “If there is a book you want to read but isn’t written yet, write it”–removed due to misattribution]
