Inspirational Quotes by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) (British Anglican Author)

The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832–98,) better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English writer and an Anglican cleric. This author of the whimsical children’s classics Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass was also a reputed mathematician and photographer.

Born in Daresbury, Cheshire, Dodgson was educated at Christ Church, Oxford; he received first-class honors in mathematics in 1854. He remained on a clerical fellowship at Christ Church for the rest of his life. His position required him to take orders in the Anglican Church and remain unmarried. Though ordained a deacon in 1861, Carroll was too reserved and stricken with a stammer to work as a preacher. He taught mathematics 1855–81.

In the mid-1850s, Carroll began writing both humorous and mathematical works. In 1856, he generated the pseudonym “Lewis Carroll” by translating his first and middle names into Latin, swapping their order, and translating them back into English. However, his mathematics texts appeared under his real name.

Carroll could overcome his social awkwardness only in the company of children. He frequently made up stories for Alice Liddell, the 4-year-old daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, and her sisters. While picnicking with the Liddell girls, Carroll narrated the adventures of a little girl who fell into a rabbit hole. Alice asked that he write the tale for her. The first version, Alice’s Adventures under Ground, evolved into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865.) Encouraged by its success, Carroll wrote the sequel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There (1872.)

Unlike most of the children’s books of his day, the Alice books are celebrated as delightful adventure stories in which a healthy, sensible little girl reacts to the “reality” of the adult world. Alice’s intelligent responses to the many absurdities of language and action appealed to adults also.

Carroll also wrote a book of children’s poetry The Hunting of the Snark (1876) and the children’s novels Sylvie and Bruno (1889) and Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893.)

Around the world, many Carroll’s fan-societies delight in the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life. While the Reverend C. L. Dodgson was a shy and finicky bachelor, Lewis Carroll was a charming companion to the children for whom he wrote engrossing nonsense stories and poems. Biographers and psychologists have wondered how “Dodgson” and “Carroll” were facets of one personality.

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