Norton Juster

“So each one of you agrees to disagree with whatever the other one agrees with, but if you both disagree with the same thing, aren't you really in agreement?”

“Ali što ćemo s Dvorcem u oblacima? Možda je on ipak važan." (...)"Neka ga vjetar nosi", odgovorila je Smisla."I sretan mu put", dodala je Mjera, "jer bez obzira koliko bio lijep, on je ipak samo zatvor.”

“Kad god se nasmiješiš, radost se oko tebe širi poput kolobara u bari, i kad god si tužan, nitko nigdje ne može biti stvarno sretan. A isto ti je tako i sa znanjem, jer kad god naučiš nešto novo, čitav svijet postaje mnogo bogatiji.”

“Bolje upasti u riječ nego u bunar.”

“Sve se na koncu svede na ništa.”

“Ali to je samo velika olovka", usprotivio se Uholaž i u nju kucnuo štapom za šetnju."To je istina", suglasio se Matemagičar, "ali kad se jednom naučiš njome služiti, onda nema kraja onom što možeš učiniti.”

“Što više želiš, to manje dobivaš, a što manje dobivaš, sve više imaš.”

“Tako kad nema baš ništa, uvijek imaš i više nego dovoljno. To je vrlo ekonomičan sistem.”

“...i dokle god je odgovor pravi, koga briga što je pitanje krivo?”

“Ali zar u buci nema i dobrih zvukova?”

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

“I don't think you understand," said Milo timidly as the watchdog growled a warning. "We're looking for a place to spend the night.""It's not yours to spend," the bird shrieked again, and followed it with the same horrible laugh."That doesn't make any sense, you see—" he started to explain."Dollars or cents, it's still not yours to spend," the bird replied haughtily."But I didn't mean—" insisted Milo."Of course you're mean," interrupted the bird, closing the eye that had been open and opening the one that had been closed. "Anyone who'd spend a night that doesn't belong to him is very mean.""Well, I thought that by—" he tried again desperately."That's a different story," interjected the bird a bit more amiably. "If you want to buy, I'm sure I can arrange to sell, but with what you're doing you'll probably end up in a cell anyway.""That doesn't seem right," said Milo helplessly, for, with the bird taking everything the wrong way, he hardly knew what he was saying."Agreed," said the bird, with a sharp click of his beak, "but neither is it left, although if I were you I would have left a long time ago.”

“Don't you know anything at all about numbers?""Well, I don't think they're very important," snapped Milo, too embarrassed to admit the truth."NOT IMPORTANT!" roared the Dodecahedron, turning red with fury. "Could you have tea for two without the two — or three blind mice without the three? Would there be four corners of the earth if there weren't a four? And how would you sail the seven seas without a seven?""All I meant was—" began Milo, but the Dodecahedron, overcome with emotion and shouting furiously, carried right on."If you had high hopes, how would you know how high they were? And did you know that narrow escapes come in all different widths? Would you travel the whole wide world without ever knowing how wide it was? And how could you do anything at long last," he concluded, waving his arms over his head, "without knowing how long the last was? Why, numbers are the most beautiful and valuable things in the world. Just follow me and I'll show you." He turned on his heel and stalked off into the cave.”

“It's completely logical," explained the Dodecahedron. "The more you want, the less you get, and the less you get, the more you have. Simple arithmetic, that's all. Suppose you had something and added something to it. What would that make?""More," said Milo quickly."Quite correct," he nodded. "Now suppose you had something and added nothing to it. What would you have?""The same," he answered again, without much conviction. "Splendid," cried the Dodecahedron. "And suppose you had something and added less than nothing to it. What would you have then?""FAMINE!" roared the anguished Humbug, who suddenly realized that that was exactly what he'd eaten twenty-three bowls of.”

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

“Is everyone with one face called a Milo?""Oh no," Milo replied; "some are called Henry or George or Robert or John or lots of other things.""How terribly confusing," he cried. "Everything here is called exactly what it is. The triangles are called triangles, the circles are called circles, and even the same numbers have the same name. 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.""I never thought of it that way," Milo admitted."Then I suggest you begin at once," admonished the Dodecahedron from his admonishing face, "for here in Digitopolis everything is quite precise.”

“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.”

“And, most important of all," added the Mathemagician, "here is your own magic staff. Use it well and there is nothing it cannot do for you."He placed in Milo's breast pocket a small gleaming pencil which, except for the size, was much like his own.”

“Outside the window, there was so much to see, and hear, and touch — walks to take, hills to climb, caterpillars to watch as they strolled through the garden. There were voices to hear and conversations to listen to in wonder, and the special smell of each day.And, in the very room in which he sat, there were books that could take you anywhere, and things to invent, and make, and build, and break, and all the puzzle and excitement of everything he didn't know — music to play, songs to sing, and worlds to imagine and then someday make real. His thoughts darted eagerly about as everything looked new — and worth trying."Well, I would like to make another trip," he said, jumping to his feet; "but I really don't know when I'll have the time. There's just so much to do right here.”

“I warned you; I warned you I was the Senses Taker," sneered the Senses Taker. "I help people find what they're not looking for, hear what they're not listening for, run after what they're not chasing, and smell what isn't even there. And, furthermore," he cackled, hopping around gleefully on his stubby legs, "I'll steal your sense of purpose, take your sense of duty, destroy your sense of proportion — and, but for one thing, you'd be helpless yet.""What's that?" asked Milo fearfully."As long as you have the sound of laughter," he groaned unhappily, "I cannot take your sense of humor — and, with it, you've nothing to fear from me.”

“But I could never have done it," he objected, "without everyone else's help.""That may be true," said Reason gravely, "but you had the courage to try; and what you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do.”

“But there's so much to learn," he said, with a thoughtful frown."Yes, that's true," admitted Rhyme; "but it's not just learning things that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things at all that matters.""That's just what I mean," explained Milo as Tock and the exhausted bug drifted quietly off to sleep. "Many of the things I'm supposed to know seem so useless that I can't see the purpose in learning them at all.""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.”

“But that can never be," said Milo, jumping to his feet."Don't be too sure," said the child patiently, "for one of the nicest things about mathematics, or anything else you might care to learn, is that many of the things which can never be, often are. You see," he went on, "it's very much like your trying to reach Infinity. You know that it's there, but you just don't know where — but just because you can never reach it doesn't mean that it's not worth looking for.”

“I never knew words could be so confusing," Milo said to Tock as he bent down to scratch the dog's ear."Only when you use a lot to say a little," answered Tock.Milo thought this was quite the wisest thing he'd heard all day.”

“just follow that line forever," said the Mathemagician, "and when you reach the end, turn left. There you'll find the land of Infinity, where the tallest, the shortest, the biggest, the smallest, and the most and least of everything are kept." "I don't have that much time," said Milo anxiously. "isn't there a quicker way?" "Well, you might try this flight of stairs," he suggested, opening another door and pointing up."It goes there, too.”

“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.”

“He paused again as a tear of longing rolled from cheek to lip with the sweet-salty taste of an old memory.”

“They walked for a while, all silent in their thoughts, until they reached the car and Alec drew a fine telescope from his shirt and handed it to Milo."Carry this with you on your journey," he said softly, "for there is much worth noticing that often escapes the eye. Through it you can see everything from the tender moss in a sidewalk crack to the glow of the farthest star — and, most important of all, you can see things as they really are, not just as they seem to be. It's my gift to you.”

“But I suppose there's a lot to see everywhere, if only you keep your eyes open.”

“But I'm afraid it can't be done.""Certainly not; it can't be done," repeated the Humbug."Why not?" asked Milo."Why not indeed?" exclaimed the bug, who seemed equally at home on either side of an argument."Much too difficult," replied the king."Of course," emphasized the bug, "much too difficult.""You could if you really wanted to," insisted Milo."By all means, if you really wanted to, you could," the Humbug agreed."How?" asked Azaz, glaring at the bug."How?" inquired Milo, looking the same way."A simple task," began the Humbug, suddenly wishing he were somewhere else, "for a brave lad with a stout heart, a steadfast dog, and a serviceable small automobile.”

“AHA!" interrupted Officer Shrift, making another note in his little book. "Just as I thought: boys are the cause of everything.”

“Can you spell everything?" asked Milo admiringly."Just about," replied the bee with a hint of pride in his voice. "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—”

“Dictionopolis is the place where all the words in the world come from. They're grown right here in our orchards.""I didn't know that words grew on trees," said Milo timidly."Where did you think they grew?" shouted the earl irritably. A small crowd began to gather to see the little boy who didn't know that letters grew on trees."I didn't know they grew at all," admitted Milo even more timidly. Several people shook their heads sadly."Well, money doesn't grow on trees, does it?" demanded the count."I've heard not," said Milo."Then something must. Why not words?" exclaimed the undersecretary triumphantly. The crowd cheered his display of logic and continued about its business.”

“Sometimes I find the best way of getting from one place to another is simply to erase everything and begin again.”

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

“Do you think it will rain?Milo: But I thought you were the Weather Man?No, I'm the Whether man, for it is more important to know whether there will be weather, whether than what the weather will be.”

“Don't try to leave for there's so very much to do, and you still have over eight hundred years to go on the first job.' 'But why do only unimportant things?' 'Think of all the trouble it saves. 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.”

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

“We're right here on this very spot. Besides, being lost is never a matter of not knowing where you are; it's a matter of not knowing where you aren't - and I don't care at all about where I'm not.”

“You weren't thinking and you weren't paying attention either. People who don't pay attention often get stuck in the Doldrums.”

“what you can do is often a matter of what you will do.”

“...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.”

“And that's why people no longer care which words they use as long as they use lots of them.”

“What a shame," signed the Dodecahedron. "They're so very useful. 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.""That's absurd," objected Milo, whose head was spinning from all the numbers and questions."That may be true," he acknowledged, "but it's completely accurate, and as long as the answer is right, who cares if the question is wrong? If you want sense, you'll have to make it yourself.”

“You'll find that the only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and that's hardly worth the effort.”

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

“For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.”

“Expect everything so that nothing comes unexpected.”

“They all looked very much like the residents of any small valley to which you've never been.”

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