The Mad Hatter is a fictional character forever embodied in Lewis Carroll‘s 1865 book Alice In Wonderland and its sequel ‘Through The Looking Glass’ produced in 1871. Over time, Mad Hatter has been recreated across the screen, both in contemporary movie and game adaptations.
Despite the variety of appearances, we think of this bizarre, quirky setting with colours and unanswered riddles when his name is mentioned. To put the icing on the cake, it’s a tea party! It”s not just any tea party, it’s a perpetual 6 o’clock tea party with his friends, the March Hare and the Dormouse.
There is something about the Mad Hatter that is eccentric, intriguing and familiar all at the same time. Instead of asking “Why?” when confronted by a precarious question or situation, he asked, “Why not?”
The Mad Hatter is a personification of many things we don’t fully understand but what stands out is his ability to “think outside of the box” and peculiar creativity resembles that of a child having too much of a good thing at a tea party. Spending time knowing this character makes you feel giddy like a child receiving a candy after eating a cake.
But most important of all, Mad Hatter knows his place. He knows that despite how different he thinks, he belongs and fits in the puzzle of his world, bringing some rainbow-coloured sprinkles to the world he is in.
Mad Hatter Quotes
Here is a list of quotes to commemorate this whimsical and curious character as found both in the books and on screen.
1. “Really, now you ask me,” said Alice, very much confused, “I don’t think—” “Then you shouldn’t talk,” said the Hatter.
2. “Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
“I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone: “so I can’t take more.”
“You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “It’s very easy to take more than nothing.”
3. You used to be much more…”muchier.” You’ve lost your muchness.
4. Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad? Alice: I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.
5. “Take off your hat,” the King said to the Hatter.
“It isn’t mine,” said the Hatter.
“Stolen!” the King exclaimed, turning to the jury, who instantly made a memorandum of the fact. “I keep them to sell,” the Hatter added as an explanation; “I’ve none of my own. I’m a hatter.”
6. Alice: I’m sorry I interrupted your birthday party. Thank you.
March Hare: Birthday? My dear child, this is NOT a birthday party.
Mad Hatter: Of course not. This is an unbirthday party.
7. “Your hair wants cutting,” said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.
8. “Have you guessed the riddle yet?” the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.
“No, I give it up,” Alice replied: “What’s the answer?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” said the Hatter.
9. “You can draw water out of a water-well,” said the Hatter; “so I should think you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well–eh, stupid?”
10. “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”
11. “Two days wrong!” sighed the Hatter. “I told you butter wouldn’t suit the works!” he added, looking angrily at the March Hare. “It was the best butter,” the March Hare meekly replied.
12. Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter. “Why, you might just as well say that ‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!”
13. “Blood, sweat, and tea, sister! That’s what it takes to achieve all great and terrible things.”
14. “A dream is not reality, but who’s to say which is which?”
15. “If you knew Time as well as I do,” said the Hatter, “You wouldn’t talk about wasting it. It’s him.”
16. “Ah! that accounts for it,” said the Hatter. “He won’t stand beating. Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he’d do almost anything you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose it were nine o’clock in the morning, just time to begin lessons: you’d only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!”
17. The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this, but all he said was “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”
18. Mad Hatter: I’ve been considering words that start with the letter M. Moron. Mutiny. Murder. Mmm-malice.
Red Queen: Well, we’re looking for an A word right now. Where is Alice?
19. Alice: This is impossible.
Mad Hatter: Only if you believe it is.
Cinderella’s Most Magical Quotes!
20. March Hare: Have some wine.
Alice: I don’t see any wine.
March Hare: There isn’t any. And you’re too young.
Alice: Then it wasn’t very nice of you to offer it.
March Hare: It wasn’t very nice of ‘you’ to sit down without an invitation! This is a ‘private’ soirée.
Alice: Well, I suppose I shouldn’t have just barged in when I know I wasn’t invited. But the table was laid out for a lot of people.
Mad Hatter: My response to that is both profound and meaningful: get your hair cut!
21. Alice: What a funny watch! It tells the day of the month, and doesn’t tell what o’clock it is!
Mad Hatter: Why should it? Does YOUR watch tell you what year it is?
Alice: Of course not, but that’s because it stays the same year for such a long time together.
Mad Hatter: Which is just the case with MINE.
22. The Mad Hatter: Why is it you’re always too small or too tall?
23. The Mad Hatter: There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger! Some say to survive it: You need to be as mad as a hatter.
24. The Mad Hatter: What a regrettably large head you have.
25. The Mad Hatter: Down with the bloody Red Queen!
26. “One to be a murderer. One to be a Martyr. One to be a Monarch. One to go Mad”
27. Mad Hatter: Your carriage, my lady.
Alice: A hat?
Mad Hatter: Of course. Anyone can go by horse or rail, but the absolute best way to travel is by hat. Have I made a rhyme?
28. Mad Hatter: Do you know why they call me Hatter?
Alice: Because you wear a hat?
Mad Hatter: No. Because I’m always there when they pass the hat, so to speak.
29. Alice: Sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
Mad Hatter: That is an excellent practice.
30. Yes, yes but you would have to be half-mad to dream me up.
We hope these Mad Hatter Quotes made you smile!
There you are, my friends. Some of the quirky quotes laden with subtle wisdom and curiosity by Mad Hatter. This character calls us to not be embarrassed for being different. These differences that we exude contribute to our ‘muchness’ as mentioned in his own word, or from my understanding, what makes us unique.
The Mad Hatter calls us to be a child with vigorous wonders of the world and limitless creativity and questions the norm of the society. He knows that being different does not necessarily mean that you are being wrong. Most importantly, he calls us to know that despite being different, there is always a place for everyone with all their little quirks in this world.
Finally, if you want a copy of Alice In Wonderland – this handbook has all of the books in one volume that will last a lifetime.
Alice in Wonderland – Best Quotes
Image Credit: John Tenniel / Public domain
I’m Alice Judy and AnQuotes is a fun hobby for me. We know that everyone loves a great quote and our mission here is simple – to be the best and most interesting quote site in the world! If you have quotes you would like us to cover, please contact us.
