Norton Juster Quotes - Page 2

Quotes about:

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

  Norton Juster

  Want, Phantom Tollbooth, Ifs

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

  6 Copy quote

• That's the way most everyone gets here. It's really quite simple: every time you decide something without having a good reason, you jump to Conclusions whether you like it or not. It's such an easy trip to make that I've been here hundreds of times.

  Norton Juster

  Simple, Way, Phantom Tollbooth

  Norton Juster (1961). “The phantom tollbooth”

  6 Copy quote

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

  Norton Juster

  Mean, Phantom Tollbooth

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

  7 Copy quote

• Everybody is so terribly sensitive about the things they know best.

  Norton Juster

  Sensitive, Knows

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.164, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  5 Copy quote

• 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.

  Norton Juster

  Real, Eye, Arms

  4 Copy quote

• 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.

  Norton Juster

  Jobs, Men, Thinking

  4 Copy quote

• Does everyone grow the way you do?" puffed Milo when he had caught up. "Almost everyone," replied Alec, and then he stopped a moment and thought. "Now and then, though, someone does begin to grow differently. Instead of down, his feet grow up towards the sky. But we do our best to discourage awkward things like that." "What happens to them?" insisted Milo. "Oddly enough, they often grow ten times the size of everyone else," said Alec thoughtfully, "and I've heard that they walk among the stars." And with that he skipped off once again toward the waiting woods.

  Norton Juster

  Stars, Growing Up, Sky

  4 Copy quote

• I received a grant from The Ford Foundation to write a book for kids about urban perception, or how people experience cities, but I kept putting off writing it. Instead I started to write what became The Phantom Tollbooth

  Norton Juster

  Book, Writing, Kids

  6 Copy quote

• And now," he continued, speaking to Milo, "where were you on the night of July 27?" "What does that have to do with it?" asked Milo. "It's my birthday, that's what," said the policeman as he entered "Forgot my birthday" in his little book. "Boys always forget other people's birthdays.

  Norton Juster

  Book, Boys, Night

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.61, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  4 Copy quote

• Perhaps someday you can have one city as easy to see as Illusions and as hard to forget as Reality.

  Norton Juster

  Reality, Cities, Forget

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

  4 Copy quote

• 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, Phantom Tollbooth, Something New

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

  9 Copy quote

• There is much worth noticing that often escapes the eye.

  Norton Juster

  Eye, Phantom Tollbooth, Noticing

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.112, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  7 Copy quote

• There are good books and there are bad books, period, that's the distinction.

  Norton Juster

  Book, Good Book, Periods

  7 Copy quote

• You see, years ago I was just an ordinary bee minding my own business, smelling flowers all day, and occasionally picking up part-time work in people's bonnets. Then one day I realized that I'd never amount to anything without an education and, being naturally adept at spelling, I decided that—

  Norton Juster

  Flower, Years, People

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.54, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  5 Copy quote

• There are no wrong roads to anywhere.

  Norton Juster

  Wrong Road

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

  4 Copy quote

• Let me try once more," Milo said in an effort to explain. "In other words--" "You mean you have other words?" cried the bird happily. "Well, by all means, use them. You're certainly not doing very well with the ones you have now.

  Norton Juster

  Mean, Bird, Effort

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.169, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  6 Copy quote

• Is everyone who lives in Ignorance like you?" asked Milo. "Much worse," he said longingly. "But I don't live here. I'm from a place very far away called Context.

  Norton Juster

  Ignorance, Like You, Far Away

  Norton Juster (1961). “The phantom tollbooth”

  4 Copy quote

• And when I'm writing, I write a lot anyway. I might write pages and pages of conversation between characters that don't necessarily end up in the book, or in the story I'm working on, because they're simply my way of getting to know the characters

  Norton Juster

  Book, Writing, Character

  4 Copy quote

• Expect everything so that nothing comes unexpected.

  Norton Juster

  Expectations, Unexpected

  8 Copy quote

• Why, can you imagine what would happen if we named all the twos Henry or George or Robert or John or lots of other things? You'd have to say Robert plus John equals four, and if the four's name were Albert, things would be hopeless.

  Norton Juster

  Names, Would Be, Four

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.145, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  10 Copy quote

• 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

• When he was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, and coming home he thought about going. Wherever he was he wished he were somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered why he'd even bothered.

  Norton Juster

  Home, School, Somewhere Else

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth 50th Anniversary Edition”, p.9, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  6 Copy quote

• Ah, this is fine," he cried triumphantly, holding up a small medallion on a chain. He dusted it off, and engraved on one side were the words "WHY NOT?" "That's a good reason for almost anything - a bit used perhaps, but still quite serviceable.

  Norton Juster

  Why Not, Sides, Reason

  Norton Juster (2011). “The Phantom Tollbooth”, p.42, Knopf Books for Young Readers

  4 Copy quote

• I am the Terrible Trivium, demon of petty tasks and worthless jobs, ogre of wasted effort, and monster of habit.

  Norton Juster

  Jobs, Effort, Monsters

  7 Copy quote

• 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.

  Norton Juster

  Children, Fall, Thinking

  4 Copy quote

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