Laura Ingalls Wilder Quotes and Sayings

Laura Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer known for the Little House on the Prairie series of children’s books, published between 1932 and 1943, which were based on her childhood in a settler and pioneer family.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Quotes and Sayings

#1 A Bouquet of Wild Flowers, Missouri Ruralist, 20 July 1917

1. I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.

#2 Letter to children, February 1947

2. The Little House books are stories of long ago. The way we live and your schools are much different now, so many changes have made living and learning easier. But the real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.

#3 An Autumn Day, 20 October 1916, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

3. The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies.

#4 Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caroline Fraser

4. The most valuable thing for life never changes by time or place—it is to be honest and cheerful, to find happiness in what you have, and to have courage in hardships.

#5 Little House on the Prairie, 1935

5. There’s no great loss without some small gain.

#6 Thoughts are things, 5 November 1917, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

6. I’m sure that would have been a delightful home to visit, for a good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing.

#7 Farmer Boy

7. There was no time to lose, no time to waste in rest or play. The life of the earth comes up with a rush in the springtime.

#8-9 On the Banks of Plum Creek

8. There is nothing in the world so good as good neighbors.

9. What must be done is best done cheerfully.

#10 The Long Winter

10. The sky was coldly blue and the whole world was white.

#11 What’s in a Word?, 5 January 1917, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

11. Remember well and bear in mind a constant friend is hard to find and when you find one good and true change not the old one for the new.

#12 Are You Going Ahead?, 20 February 1917, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

12. It seems to be a law of nature that everything and every person must move along. There is no standing still. The moment that growth stops, decay sets in.

#13 Getting the Worst of It, 5 March 1917, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

13. We are all alike eager to lay upon some one else the blame for the troubles that come from our own faults…

#14-15 Buy Goods Worth the Price, 5 April 1917, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

14. There are very few things in this world that we may not have if we are willing to pay their price.

15. Is there something in life that you want very much? Then pay the price and take it, but never expect to have a charge account and avoid paying the bills. Life is a good collector and sooner or later the account must be paid in full.

#16 Does “Haste Make Waste”?, 20 April 1917, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

16. We have so many machines and so many helps, in one way and another, to save time and yet I wonder what we do with the time we save. Nobody seems to have any!

#17-18 Just Neighbors, 20 May 1917, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

17. It is true that we find ourselves reflected in our friends and neighbors to a surprising extent and if we are in the habit of having bad neighbors we are not likely to find better by changing our location.

18. If we make good neighbors of ourselves, we likely shall not need to seek new friends in strange places.

#19 Chasing Thistledown, 20 June 1917, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

19. It is hand to hand fighting on the farms now and sometimes the enemy gains, but the farmers, both men and women, are people of courage. They planted the crops and cold and frosts made a great deal of replanting necessary. They replanted and the floods came so that much of the planting must be done once more, but there is no thought of anything but keeping up the fight.

#20 Get the Habit of Being Ready, 20 October 1917, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines

20. It does not so much matter what happens. It is what one does when it happens that really counts.

#21 Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks edited by Stephen W. Hines

21. After all, a vacation is not a matter of place or time. We can take a wonderful vacation in spirit, even though we are obliged to stay at home, if we will only drop our burdens from our minds for a while. But no amount of travel will give us rest and recreation if we carry our work and worries with us.