35+ Pinocchio Quotes About Lying, Wishing and Poverty

We collected some of the best Pinocchio quotes from the original book, Disney film and other adaptations of the tale of a mischievous puppet named Pinocchio. You’ll find some cute, funny and touching quotes from Pinocchio that will make you smile and warm your heart.

Pinocchio was a lying, disobedient and silly puppet. But despite all the bad things he did, he had a big heart and was a really good boy. There are many powerful life lessons from this old tale of a lively puppet. And many people, even over a hundred years later still can relate to Pinocchio’s journey of trying to be a good little boy, no matter what life throws at him.

Today we have collected some of the most famous Pinocchio sayings and phrases from becoming a real boy to lying and many other inspirational quotes. Most of these quotes have been taken from the original book, The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi published in 1883. We have also included some powerful quotes from the Disney adaptation of this classic tale. 

35+ Best Pinocchio Quotes

Wishing Quotes

Most of the famous quotes on wishing come from the 1940 Disney animation adaption of Pinocchio. Here are some of our favourite quotes on wishing: 

• “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might. Have the wish I make tonight. I wished that my little Pinocchio might be a real boy.” – Geppetto (Pinocchio, 1940 Disney Film)
• “Good Geppetto, you have given so much happiness to others, that you deserve to have your wish come true.” – The Blue Fairy (Pinocchio, 1940 Disney Film)
• “I’ll bet a lot of you folks don’t believe that, about a wish coming true, do you? Well, I didn’t, either. Of course, I’m just a cricket singing my way from hearth to hearth, but let me tell you what made me change my mind.” – Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio, 1940 Disney Film)
• “When you wish upon a star. Makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires. Will come to you” – Sang by Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio, 1940 Disney Film)
• “No, Pinocchio. To make Geppetto’s wish come true will be entirely up to you.” – The Blue Fairy (Pinocchio, 1940 Disney Film)
• “Someday, I’m gonna be a real boy!” – Pinocchio “A real boy! It’s my wish! It’s come true!” – Geppetto (Pinocchio, 1940 Disney Film) 
• “Pinocchio promised to study and to behave himself. And he kept his word for the remainder of the year. At the end of it, he passed first in all his examinations, and his report was so good that the Fairy said to him happily: “Tomorrow your wish will come true.” – (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi) 
• “I will study, I will work, I will do all that you tell me, for indeed I have become weary of being a puppet, and I wish at any price to become a boy.” – (Pinocchio: The Tale of a Puppet, by Carlo Collodi – 1916 Edition)  

Pinocchio Quotes About Lying

Here are some of our favourite quotes about telling lies from Pinocchio:

• “Lies, my boy, are known in a moment. There are two kinds of lies, lies with short legs and lies with long noses. Yours, just now, happen to have long noses.” – The Fairy (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “I lost them,” answered Pinocchio, but he told a lie, for he had them in his pocket. As he spoke, his nose, long though it was, became at least two inches longer. –  (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “The Fairy showed no pity toward him, as she was trying to teach him a good lesson, so that he would stop telling lies, the worst habit any boy may acquire.” –  The Narrator (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “Good boys always tell the truth.” “And I always tell lies.”-  Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “the Talking Cricket was right when he said that a disobedient boy cannot be happy in this world.” –  Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “At this lie his nose grew to such an extraordinary length that poor Pinocchio could not move in any direction.” – Narrator (Pinocchio: The Tale of a Puppet, by Carlo Collodi – 1916 Edition)
• “A lie keeps growing and growing until it’s as plain as the nose on your face.” – The Blue Fairy (Pinocchio, 1940 Disney Film)

Hard Work

Getting a job and working hard is an important life lesson. Here are our favourite quotes about working hard from Pinocchio: 

• “A man, remember, whether rich or poor, should do something in this world. No one can find happiness without work.” – The Fairy (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “Laziness is a serious illness and one must cure it immediately;” – The Fairy (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “We do not work for gain,” answered the Fox. “We work only to enrich others.”- The Fox (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi) 
• “I have reached the conclusion that, in order to come by money honestly, one must work and know how to earn it with hand or brain.”  – The Parrot (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “If I were only like so many others and had studied and worked and stayed with my poor old father, I should not find myself here now, in this field and in the darkness, taking the place of a farmer’s watchdog.” – Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “I’ll work; I’ll study; I’ll do all you tell me. After all, the life of a Marionette has grown very tiresome to me and I want to become a boy, no matter how hard it is. You promise that, do you not?” – Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “Pinocchio, although alone, defended himself bravely. With those two wooden feet of his, he worked so fast that his opponents kept at a respectful distance.” – Narrator (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “Little by little his diligence was rewarded. He succeeded, not only in his studies, but also in his work, and a day came when he put enough money together to keep his old father comfortable and happy.” – Narrator (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)

Poverty & Hunger

Poverty was a common theme in many classic tales. Here are some of the best quotes about hunger and poverty from Pinocchio:

• “Hunger, my boy, is no reason for taking something which belongs to another.” – The Glowworm (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “There were only two means left to him in order to get a bite to eat. He had either to work or to beg.” – Narrator (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “Aren’t you ashamed? Instead of being a beggar in the streets, why don’t you look for work and earn your own bread?” – People on the Streets (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “And meanwhile his hunger grew and grew. The only relief poor Pinocchio had was to yawn;” – Narrator (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “Pinocchio was greatly afraid of thunder and lightning, but the hunger he felt was far greater than his fear.” – Narrator (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “You must remember, my boy,” answered the Pigeon, “that hunger is the best sauce!” – The Pigeon (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “Then, my boy, if you are really faint with hunger, eat two slices of your pride; and I hope they don’t give you indigestion.” – The Coal Man (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “My boy, as to clothes, I have nothing but a little sack in which I keep beans. If you wish for it, take it; there it is.” – (Pinocchio: The Tale of a Puppet, by Carlo Collodi – 1916 Edition)  

For more poverty-related quotes, check out our post on 35 Oliver Twist Quotes About Poverty, Crime & Love.

Learning & Education

Going to school and learning new skills is vital in life. Here are the best Pinocchio quotes on learning and education:

• “Remember it is never too late to learn.” – The Fairy (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “What do you care about school? You can go there tomorrow. With a lesson more or less, we are always the same donkeys.” – A boy (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “As the days passed into weeks, even the teacher praised him, for he saw him attentive, hard working, and wide awake, always the first to come in the morning, and the last to leave when school was over.” – Narrator (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “Good boys go gladly to school.” “And I get sick if I go to school. From now on I’ll be different.” –  Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “If you do not like going to school, why don’t you at least learn a trade, so that you can earn an honest living?” –  The Talking Cricket (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “Shall I tell you something?” asked Pinocchio, who was beginning to lose patience. “Of all the trades in the world, there is only one that really suits me.”
• “And what can that be?” “That of eating, drinking, sleeping, playing, and wandering around from morning till night.” “Let me tell you, for your own good, Pinocchio,” said the Talking Cricket in his calm voice, “that those who follow that trade always end up in the hospital or in prison.” –  (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)
• “In school today, I’ll learn to read, tomorrow to write, and the day after tomorrow I’ll do arithmetic. Then, clever as I am, I can earn a lot of money. With the very first pennies I make, I’ll buy Father a new cloth coat. Cloth, did I say?” –  Pinocchio (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)  
• “For myself. I want to go to school and study hard.” “Look at me,” said the Fox. “For the silly reason of wanting to study, I have lost a paw.” –  The Fox (The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi)

Did you enjoy this collection of over 35 Pinocchio quotes? Let us know your favourite quote from Pinocchio in the comments below.