The Bad Beginning Youth Quotes

"Now, I don't mean to cut short our dinner, but you children have to pack up your things, and I have to return to the bank to do some more work. Like your new legal guardian, I am very busy myself." (2.16)

Even though Count Olaf's house was quite large, the three children were placed together in one filthy bedroom that had only one small bed in it. Violet and Klaus took turns sleeping in it, so that every other night one of them was in the bed and the other was sleeping on the hard wooden floor, and the bed's mattress was so lumpy it was difficult to say who was more uncomfortable. To make a bed for Sunny, Violet removed the dusty curtains from the curtain rod that hung over the bedroom's one window and bunched them together to form a sort of cushion, just big enough for her sister. However, without curtains over the cracked glass, the sun streamed through the window every morning, so the children woke up early and sore each day. Instead of a closet, there was a large cardboard box that had once held a refrigerator and would now hold the three children's clothes, all piled in a heap. Instead of toys, books, or other things to amuse the youngsters, Count Olaf had provided a small pile of rocks. And the only decoration on the peeling walls was a large and ugly painting of an eye, matching the one on Count Olaf's ankle and all over the house. (3.2)

"I can't tell you how much we appreciate this," Violet said, carefully. With their kind parents dead and Count Olaf treating them so abominably, the three children were not used to kindness from adults, and weren't sure if they were expected to do anything back. (4.6)

"Here you are, Olaf," said one of the white-faced women. "What in the world are you doing?"

"I'm just disciplining these orphans," Count Olaf said. "I asked them to make dinner, and all they have made is some disgusting sauce."

"You can't go easy on children," the man with the hook-hands said. "They must be taught to obey their elders."

The tall, bald man peered at the youngsters. "Are these," he said to Count Olaf, "those wealthy children you were telling me about?"

"Yes," Count Olaf said. "They are so awful I can scarcely stand to touch them." (4.22-26)

"Excuse me," Mr. Poe said, as another telephone rang. "Poe here," he said. "Seven. Seven. Seven. Seven. Six and a half. Seven. You're welcome." He hung up and quickly wrote something down on one of his papers, then looked at the children. "I'm sorry," he said, "what were you saying about Count Olaf? Making you do chores doesn't sound too bad."

"He calls us orphans."

"He has terrible friends."

"He is always asking about our money."

"Poko!" (This was from Sunny.)

Mr. Poe put up his hands to indicate he had heard enough. "Children, children," he said. "You must give yourselves time to adjust to your new home. You've only been there a few days."

"We have been there long enough to know Count Olaf is a bad man," Klaus said. (5.29-35)

"Aren't raspberries delicious?" he asked. "They were my favorite berries when I was your age."

Violet tried to picture Count Olaf as a youngster, but couldn't. His shiny eyes, bony hands, and shadowy smile all seemed to be things only adults possess. (6.5-6)

Count Olaf reached out one of his spidery hands and stroked Violet on the chin, looking deep into her eyes. "You will," he said, "participate in this theatrical performance. I would prefer it if you would participate voluntarily, but as I believe Mr. Poe explained to you, I can order you to participate and you must obey." (6.30)

She remembered something her parents had said to her when Klaus was born, and again when they brought Sunny home from the hospital. "You are the eldest Baudelaire child," they had said, kindly but firmly. "And as the eldest, it will always be your responsibility to look after your younger siblings. Promise us that you will always watch out for them and make sure they don't get into trouble." (10.6)

"You may not be my wife," he said, "but you are still my daughter, and—"

"Do you honestly think," Mr. Poe said in an exasperated voice, "that I will allow you to continue to care for these three children, after the treachery I have seen here tonight?"

"The orphans are mine," Count Olaf insisted, "and with me they shall stay. There is nothing illegal about trying to marry someone."

"But there is something illegal about dangling an infant out of a tower window," Justice Strauss said indignantly. "You, Count Olaf, will go to jail, and the three children will live with me." (13.44-47)

The children looked at Justice Strauss, who sighed heavily and hugged each of the Baudelaire youngsters in turn. "Mr. Poe is right," she said sadly. "He must respect your parents' wishes. Don't you want to do what your parents wanted, children?"

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny pictured their loving parents, and wished more than ever that the fire had not occurred. Never, never had they felt so alone. (13.73-74)