Once Upon a Time is an American fantasy adventure drama television series that aired for seven seasons on ABC from October 23, 2011 to May 18, 2018. The action alternates between two main settings: a fantastical world where fairy tales happen; and a seaside town in Maine invented for the show, called Storybrooke. Profoundly inspirational once upon a time quotes will encourage growth in life, make you wiser and broaden your perspective.
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Famous Once Upon a Time Quotes
Once upon a time . . . What time are we upon and where do I belong? — Francesca Lia Block
There was no before the beginning of our universe, because once upon a time there was no time. — John D. Barrow
Surrounded by stories surreal and sublime, I fell in Love in the Library once upon a time. — Jimmy Buffett
Once upon a time freedom used to be life-now it’s money. I guess the world really do change. — Lorraine Hansberry
Once upon a time – for that is how all stories should begin – there was a boy who lost his mother. — John Connolly
McGough: I’m sorry. I’m afraid I’ve caught poetry. Mr Bones: Oh really? Well, don’t worry, sir – I used to suffer from short stories. McGough: Really? When? Mr Bones: Oh, once upon a time … — Graham Chapman
Happily ever after doesn’t begin with Once upon a time: it begins with Now. — Stephen Mitchell
Once upon a time lasts forever — Philip Pullman
Once upon a time there was a lady. She had no children, and no happiness either. And at first she cried for a long time, but then she became wicked… — Mikhail Bulgakov
Once upon a time the plural of ‘wizard’ was ‘war’. — Terry Pratchett
Thou shalt not’ might reach the head, but it takes ‘Once upon a time’ to reach the heart. — Philip Pullman
Once upon a time, government budgets were balanced, our money was sound, the streets were safe, and taxes imposed by all levels of government took less than 10% of our income. — Harry Browne
I suppose once upon a time a Test match was something you looked forward to go and watch. It’s very hard to get the quality these days because the focus is more on quantity. — David Campese
Once upon a time, Sleeping Beauty decided to take a nap from which she would never wake up. — Rachel Cohn
Everything, everything seemed once-upon-a-time. — Haruki Murakami
Anyone can have a once-upon-a-time or a happily-ever-after, but it’s the journey between that makes the story worth telling. — Chris Colfer
Once upon a time there were three little foxes Who didn’t wear stockings, and they didn’t wear sockses, But they all had handkerchiefs to blow their noses, And they kept their handkerchiefs in cardboard boxes. — A. A. Milne
Money has lost its narrative quality the way painting did once upon a time. Money is talking to itself. — Don DeLillo
When I was little, I made up my own fairy tales, and the ghostly echo of Once upon a time shapes all the fiction Ive ever written. — Justine Larbalestier
I’ve nothing against the Queen personally: I had lunch at the Palace once upon a time. — Seamus Heaney
Once upon a time the English knew who they were. — Anna Pavlova
Our story is a ‘once upon a time’, but it’s not a ‘happy ever after’. — Rupert Sanders
For every once upon a time there must be a story to follow, because if a story doesn’t, something else will, and it might not be as harmless as a story. — Philip Pullman
Once upon a time fairy tales were told to audiences of young and old alike. It is only in the last century that such tales were deemed fit only for small children, stripped of much of their original complexity, sensuality, and power to frighten and delight. — Terri Windling
Once upon a time there was an old country, wrapped up in habit and caution. We have to transform our old France into a new country and marry it to its time. — Charles de Gaulle
…In the past, as now, [Hollywood] was a stamping ground for tastelessness, violence, and hyperbole, but once upon a time it turned out a product which sweetened the flavor of life all over the world. — Anita Loos
Once upon a time, I dreamed of becoming a great man. Later, a good man. Now, finally, I find it difficult enough and honor enough to be — a man. — Edward Abbey
We’ve strayed into a zone with a high magical index,’ he said. ‘Don’t ask me how. Once upon a time a really powerful magic field must have been generated here, and we’re feeling the after-effects.’ Precisely,’ said a passing bush. — Terry Pratchett
There were dreams once upon a time, dreams now all but forgotten. On sad days I dust them off and fondle them nostalgically, with a patronizing wonder at the naivete of the youth who dreamed them. — Glen Cook
Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well. — Laini Taylor
Once upon a time there was a young lady who lived in a marsh, and her name was Poison. — Chris Wooding
Once upon a time people talked about the infallibility of the pope; today it is that of the merchant which they wish to establish. — Charles Fourier
Once upon a time, the most successful Democratic leader of them all, FDR, looked south and said I see one third of a nation ill-housed, ill clad, ill nourished. Today our national Democratic leaders look south and say, I see one third of a nation and it can go to hell. — Zell Miller
Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were–Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter. — Beatrix Potter
Once upon a time . . .” “In the beginning was . . .” That’s the way it always starts off. Every story, gospel, history, chronicle, myth, legend, folktale, or old wives’ tale blues riff begins with “Woke up this mornin’. . . . — Steven Tyler
Once upon a time, an angel lay dying in the mist. And a devil knelt over him and smiled. — Laini Taylor
What actresses do today when they appear on the screen is what they did once upon a time for getting to appear on the screen. — George Burns
Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. — Anne Tyler
Once upon a time there was a fairy godmother, but the rest of the time there was none. This story is about one of those other times. — Diane Setterfield
Sergio Leone’s ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ is a brilliant movie. It’s about four hours long, but it’s so well done. — Erik Estrada
Once upon a time, I did not live in Shady Pines. Once upon a time, my name was not Alice. Once upon a time, I didn’t know how lucky I was. — Elizabeth Scott
Once upon a time when there was no time. — John D. Barrow
Once upon a time wasn’t as long ago as it used to be. — Laurell K. Hamilton
Once upon a time, novelists of the 19th century, such as Charles Dickens, published in serial form. — Margaret Atwood
Rush of pine scent (once upon a time), the unlicensed conviction there ought to be another way of saying this. — Paul Celan
The shapes arranged themselves into words, and the words spelled out a delicious and wonderful phrase: Once upon a time. — Kate DiCamillo
Nothing in recent years, on television or anywhere else, has improved on a good story that begins Once upon a time… — William Bennett
It is so strange, to encounter an ex. It’s as if you’re in a foreign film, and what you’re saying face-to-face has nothing to do with the subtitles flowing beneath you. We are so careful not to touch, although once upon a time, I slept plastered to him in our bed, like lichen on a rock. We are two strangers who knows every shameful secret, every hidden freckle, every fatal flaw in each other. — Jodi Picoult
Never forget that once upon a time, in an unguarded moment, you recognized yourself as a friend. — Elizabeth Gilbert
Once upon a time, a little girl was raised by monsters. But angels burned the doorways to their world, and she was all alone. — Laini Taylor
It was not once upon a time, but a certain time in history, before anyone knew what was happening, that Walt Disney cast a spell on the fairy tale, and he has held it captive ever since. — Jack Zipes
Once upon a time, a girl lived in a sandcastle, making monsters to send through a hole in the sky. — Laini Taylor
Y+A1:A90our life at this exact moment is a direct result of choices you made once upon a time. Thirty minutes or 30 year ago. — Sarah Ban Breathnach
Just so you know, when they say once upon a time….they’re lying. It’s not once upon a time. Its not even twice upon a time. It’s hundreds of times, over and over, every time someone opens up the pages of this dusty old book. — Jodi Picoult
One hundred years ago, if someone said, ‘damn,’ people would take notice. Now, you can say almost anything. Secrets are the same way. Once upon a time when a secret was revealed, people paid an enormous amount of attention to it. — Paul Levinson
Once upon a time the world was sweeter than we knew. Everything was ours; how happy we were then, but then once upon a time never comes again. — Johnny Mercer
When you take a child who’s hollering like hell, sit him on your knee, and say once upon a time, you stop him hollering. As long as you go on telling him a story, he will listen. Novelists who neglect this fundamental effect do so at their peril. They become what is known as the experimental novelist, and an experimental novel is not really a novel at all. — William Golding
There is no such thing as a happy ending. I never met a single one to equal Once upon a time. — Stephen King
That’s the ideal meeting…once upon a time, only once, unexpectedly, then never again. — Helen Oyeyemi
Once upon a time, an angel and a devil held a wishbone between them. And its snap split the world in two. — Laini Taylor
Once upon a time the world was round, and you could go on it around and around. — Gertrude Stein
Had I been brighter, the ladies been gentler, the Scotch been weaker, had the gods been kinder, had the dice been hotter, this could have been a one-sentence story: Once upon a time I lived happily ever after. — Mickey Rooney
Once upon a time I was such a good liar; I could talk the fish right into my mouths. — Vernor Vinge
Once upon a time, I thought that politics was the name we gave to our higher instincts. That was before Margaret Thatcher, who came to power when I was 11 years old. — Andrew O’Hagan
That was the only decision there was once upon a time: what to do with the night. — Harry Crews
Once upon a time they had some bad luck, and they blame everything on that. — Herta Muller
Just so you know, when they say Once upon a time” . . . they’re lying — Jodi Picoult
The trouble is now, with rock’n’roll and stuff, it gets so big that it loses what once upon a time was a magnificent thing, where it was special and quite elusive and occasionally a little sinister and it had its own world nobody could get in. — Robert Plant
Once upon a time Baltimore was necessary. — Gertrude Stein
Every photo, every ‘ONCE’ in time is also the beginning of a story starting ‘once upon a time…’ Every photo is the first frame of a movie. — Wim Wenders
I’ve always felt like I was on the margins. Once upon a time that’s what independent used to mean. — John Sayles
Once upon a time, he said out loud to the darkness. He said these words because they were the best, the most powerful words that he knew and just the saying of them comforted him. — Kate DiCamillo
Writing is storytelling. No matter how you slice it, you’re saying, ‘Once upon a time.’ That’s what writing is all about. — Mary Higgins Clark
[Adolf] Hitler succeeded once upon a time to conquer all the big powers within two or three years and occupied all Europe, North Africa, and arrived at the gates of Moscow. This is not the real power. Real power is something completely different. — Yasser Arafat
Ninety percent of the time, you’re going to hear no. It took me seven years to make ‘Once Upon a Time… When We Were Colored.’ Nobody wanted to see the movie made. I got the movie made. — Tim Reid
Once upon a time we did not focus on a president’s private life. — Tom Ford
Once upon a time I was riding on the top of a First Avenue bus, when I heard a mythical housewife say to another, Molly, my dear, I would have bought that new brand of toilet soap if only they hadn’t set the body copy in ten point Garamond. Don’t you believe it. What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form. — David Ogilvy
Once upon a time we were just plain people. But that was before we began having relationships with mechanical systems. Get involved with a machine and sooner or later you are reduced to a factor. — Ellen Goodman
Once upon a time there was no Time. — John D. Barrow
To Grandma: Once upon a time, there was a boy who flew. — Chris Colfer
The difference between a fairy tale and a sea tale? A fairy tale starts with Once upon a time. A sea tale starts with This ain’t no $hit! — Edith Widder
Once upon a time … the only autonomous intelligences we humans knew of were us humans. We thought then that if humankind ever devised another intelligence that it would be the result of a huge project … a great mass of silicon and ancient transistors and chips and circuit boards … a machine with lots of networking circuits, in other words, aping-if you will pardon the expression-the human brain in form and function. Of course, AIs did not evolve that way. They sort of slipped into existence when we humans were looking the other way. — Dan Simmons
Once upon a time, something happened, and it was better than something not happening. The end. — Dan Harmon
On ‘Swingtown,’ I think that’s when I was able to blend the character-slash-leading lady roles, and that’s what I’m doing on ‘Once Upon a Time’ as well. She’s a leading lady, but she’s also this character. — Lana Parrilla
Thou Shalt Not is soon forgotten, but Once Upon a Time is forever. — Philip Pullman
I like that ‘once upon a time’ quality, where the telling of a tale has an elevated sense of story. There’s a whimsical quality to it. Sometimes in fairy tales more things seem possible, even though often they’re real world based. — Erin Morgenstern
Once upon a time there was what there was, and if nothing had happened there would be nothing to tell. — Charles de Lint
Once upon a time I was falling in love, now I’m only falling apart. — Bonnie Tyler
Once upon a time is now. — Emilie Autumn
Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo — James Joyce
