Quotessence
Home / Authors / Norton Juster
Norton Juster

Norton Juster Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllPhantom TollboothIfsKnowsSaidThinkingWayBookReasonPeopleTryingUseCareImportantLongEyeHappensHeardLittlesMeanBoys

Famous Norton Juster Quotes

“Would it be possible for me to see something from up there?" asked Milo politely. "You could," said Alec, "but only if you try very hard to look at things as an adult does." Milo tried as hard as he could, and, as he did, his feet floated slowly off the ground until he was standing in the air next to Alex Bings. He looked around very quickly and, an instant later, crashed back down to the earth again. "Interesting, wasn't it?" asked Alex. "Yes, it was," agreed Milo, rubbing his head and dusting himself off, "but I think I'll continue to see things as a child. It's not so far to fall.”

IfsThinkingTryingLooksChildrenDoeSaidHardEarthFallNextInterestingAirFeetAdultsStandingInstantAlex
Author:Norton Juster
Create image

“But why do only unimportant things?" asked Milo, who suddenly remembered how much time he spent each day doing them. "Think of all the trouble it saves," the man explained, and his face looked as if he'd be grinning an evil grin--if he could grin at all. "If you only do the easy and useless jobs, you'll never have to worry about the important ones which are so difficult. You just won't have the time. For there's always something to do to keep you from what you really should be doing, and if it weren't for that dreadful magic staff, you'd never know how much time you were wasting.”

IfsThinkingKnowsMenShouldImportantJobsFacesEvilEasyDifficultWorryKnow HowTroubleMagicUselessRememberedEach DayWasting TimeStaffUnimportantGrinningUnimportant Things
Author:Norton Juster
Create image

“For instance," said the boy again, "if Christmas trees were people and people were Christmas trees, we'd all be chopped down, put up in the living room, and covered in tinsel, while the trees opened our presents." "What does that have to do with it?" asked Milo. "Nothing at all," he answered, "but it's an interesting possibility, don't you think?”

PeopleIfsThinkingDoeSaidInterestingRoomsBoysTreePossibilityInstanceCoveredLiving RoomChristmas TreeTinsel
Author:Norton Juster
Create image

“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven't the answer to a question you've been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause in a roomful of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you're all alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful, if you listen carefully.”

PeopleIfsKnowsDifferentEndsCountryWholeMomentsBeautifulNightHouseSpeakAnswersRoomsSilenceWonderfulDoorsHeardHavensQuietCalmStormDawnPausesSilence IsVery BeautifulHushPhantom TollboothCountry Roads
Author:Norton Juster
Create image

“I know one thing for certain; it is much harder to tell whether you are lost than whether you were lost, for, on many occasions, where you are going is exactly where you are. On the other hand, if you often find that where you've been is not at all where you should have gone, and, since it's much more difficult to find your way back from someplace you've never left, I suggest you go there immediately and then decide.”

IfsKnowsWayShouldHandsCertainLostLeftDifficultGoneOne ThingShould HaveHarderOccasionsWhere You AreWhere You Are Going
Book:The phantom tollbooth
Create image

“How can you see something that isn't there?" yawned the Humbug, who wasn't fully awake yet. "Sometimes, it's much simpler than seeing things that are,"he said. "For instance, if something is there, you can only see it with your eyes open, but if it isn't there, you can see it just as well with your eyes closed. That's why imaginary things are often easier to see than real ones." "Then where is Reality?" barked Tock. "Right here,"cried Alec, waving his arms.”

IfsWellsSaidRealSometimesRealityEyeSeeingArmsEasierInstanceAwakeImaginaryCriedReal OnesHumbugTockImaginary Things
Author:Norton Juster
Create image

“Why, did you know that if a beaver two feet long with a tail a foot and a half long can build a dam twelve feet high and six feet wide in two days, all you would need to build Boulder Dam is a beaver sixty-eight feet long with a fifty-one-foot tail?" "Where would you find a beaver that big?" grumbled the Humbug as his pencil point snapped. "I'm sure I don't know," he replied, "but if you did, you'd certainly know what to do with him.”

IfsKnowsNeedsLongTwoBigsHalfFeetSixEightWideFiftyTwelveSixtyTailsPencilsTwo DaysDid You KnowDamsBouldersHumbugBeavers
Book:The Phantom Tollbooth 50th Anniversary Edition
Create image

“Whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way. Why, when a housefly flaps his wings, a breeze goes round the world; when a speck of dust falls to the ground, the entire planet weighs a little more; and when you stamp your foot, the earth moves slightly off its course. Whenever you laugh, gladness spreads like the ripples in the pond; and whenever you're sad, no one anywhere can be really happy. And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer.”

IfsWorldWayLittlesWholeEarthMovingPurposeFallCoursesLaughingFeetPlanetsWingsRoundsSpreadWhole WorldDustSomething NewStampsBreezeReally HappyPondsRippleGladnessSpecksPhantom Tollbooth
Author:Norton Juster
Create image