Phantom Tollbooth Quotes

• The way you see things depends a great deal on where you look at them from.

  Norton Juster

  Looks, Way, Deals

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.96, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer.

  Norton Juster

  World, Something New, Whole

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.190, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• You may not see it now," said the Princess of Pure Reason, looking knowingly at Milo's puzzled face, "but whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way.

  Norton Juster

  Princess, Purpose, May

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.190, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• You must never feel badly about making mistakes ... as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.

  Norton Juster

  Inspirational, Mistake, Long

  16 Copy quote

• So many things are possible just as long as you don't know they're impossible.

  Norton Juster

  Optimistic, Long, Impossible

  The Phantom Tollbooth (p. 247)

  23 Copy quote

  Show source

• Things which are equally bad are also equally good. Try to look at the bright side of things. - Humbug

  Norton Juster

  Trying, Looks, Sides

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.86, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• ...it's not just learning that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things that matters.

  Norton Juster

  Education, School, Important

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.190, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  22 Copy quote

  Show source

• You must never feel badly about making mistakes.

  Norton Juster

  Mistake, Children Book, Childrens Book

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.189, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  19 Copy quote

  Show source

• You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and not get wet.

  Norton Juster

  Ignorance, Knowledge, Swimming

  7 Copy quote

• But just because you can never reach it, doesn’t mean that it’s not worth looking for.

  Norton Juster

  Mean

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.163, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• What you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.

  Norton Juster

  Secret, Today, Helping

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.190, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• If you want sense, you'll have to make it yourself.

  Norton Juster

  Want, Ifs

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth 50th Anniversary Edition”, p.175, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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.

  Norton Juster

  Fall, Moving, Wings

  12 Copy quote

• Time is a gift, given to you, given to give you the time you need, the time you need to have the time of your life.

  Norton Juster

  Time, Giving, Needs

  57 Copy quote

• Since you got here by not thinking, it seems reasonable to expect that, in order to get out, you must start thinking.

  Norton Juster

  Thinking, Order, Reasonable

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth 50th Anniversary Edition”, p.31, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what's in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.

  Norton Juster

  Travel, Philosophy, Journey

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.103, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  17 Copy quote

  Show source

• ...it's very much like your trying to reach infinity. You know that it's there, you just don't know where-but just because you can never reach it doesn't mean that it's not worth looking for.

  Norton Juster

  Mean, Trying, Infinity

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.163, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• ...I'll continue to see things as a child. It's not so far to fall.

  Norton Juster

  Children, Fall

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.95, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty.

  Norton Juster

  Years, Way, Return

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.25, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• And remember, also," added the Princess of Sweet Rhyme, "that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.

  Norton Juster

  Sweet, Princess, Sight

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.190, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• Infinity is a dreadfully poor place. They can never manage to make ends meet.

  Norton Juster

  Infinity, Poor, Ends

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.160, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do.

  Norton Juster

  Matter, Can Do

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.200, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• A slavish concern for the composition of words is the sign of a bankrupt intellect. Be gone, odious wasp! You smell of decayed syllables.

  Norton Juster

  Smell, Gone, Wasps

  12 Copy quote

• 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.

  Norton Juster

  Beautiful, Country, Night

  "The Phantom Tollbooth". Book by Norton Juster, www.theguardian.com. 1961.

  20 Copy quote

  Show source

• Expectations is the place you must always go to before you get to where you're going. Of course, some people never go beyond Expectations, but my job is to hurry them along whether they like it or not.

  Norton Juster

  Jobs, People, Expectations

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.25, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  8 Copy quote

  Show source