Norton Juster

Writer

1929-06-02 – 2021-03-08

Norton Juster was an American architect and writer best known for the children"s novel The Phantom Tollbooth. His books became widely read in schools and libraries.

Books by Norton Juster

The Phantom Tollbooth
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The dot & the line
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The Hello, Goodbye Window
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Quotes by Norton Juster

Of course, if you've ever gotten a surprise package, you can imagine how puzzled and excited Milo was; and if you've never gotten one, pay close attention, because someday you might.
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Now, remember: they're not for eating, but for listening, because you'll often be hungry for sounds as well as food. Here are street noises at night, train whistles from a long way off, dry leaves burning, busy department stores, crunching toast, creaking bed springs, and of course, all kinds of laughter. There's a little of each, and in far off, lonely places, I think you will be glad to have them.
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...it's just as bad to live in a place where what you do see isn't there as it is to live in one where what you don't see is.
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Have you ever heard a blindfolded octopus unwrap a cellophane-covered bathtub?
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And Milo, full of thoughts and questions, curled up on the pages of tomorrow's music and eagerly awaited the dawn.
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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.
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You see, he continued, beginning to feel better, once there was no time at all, and people found it very inconvenient. They never knew wether they were eating lunch or dinner, and they were always missing trains. So time was invented to help them keep track of the day and get to places where they should. When they began to count all the time that was available, what with 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year, it seemed as if there was much more than could ever be used. 'If there's so much of it, it couldn't be very valuable,' was the general opinion, and it soon fell into dispute. People wasted it and even gave it away. Then we were giving the job of seeing that no one wasted time again, he said, sitting up proudly. It's hard work but a noble calling. For you see- and now he was standing on the seat, one foot on the windshield, shouting with his ams outstretched- it is our most valuable possession, more precious than diamonds. It marches on, it and tide wait for no man, and- At that point in the speech the car hit a bump in the road and the watchdog collapsed in a heap on the front seat with his alarm ringing furiously.
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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.
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Words and numbers are of equal value, for in the cloak of knowledge one is warp and the other woof.
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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.
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You had the courage to try and what you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do.
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You see, it's really quite simple. A simile is just a mode of comparison employing 'as' and 'like' to reveal the hidden character or essence of whatever we want to describe, and through the use of fancy, association, contrast, extension, or imagination, to enlarge our understanding or perception of human experience and observation.
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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.
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Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens.
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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.
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... what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.
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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.
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Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens.
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... what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.
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Have you ever heard a blindfolded octopus unwrap a cellophane-covered bathtub?
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