“He would much rather hear a piano being demolished by illegal bulldozers than a Mozart concerto”

“Well thank you, me old gobbler,' said Mr. Gum handing over some money that Billy William would later discover to be made out of lies and broken promises.”

“[from The One and Only Official Mr. Gum Official Glossary That Tells You What Words Mean by Explaining Them Using Other Words] : Cups of tea: People in England are always drinking cups of tea. "Oh let's have a cup of tea " they say. "That will prove we are English and not American." Sometimes American people try to have cups of tea to pretend they are English but forget it We can always tell you are faking it”

“When we hear a Mozart piano concerto today, we're most likely to hear the piano part played on a modern concert grand. In the hands of a professional pianist, such a piano can bury the strings and the winds and hold its own against the brass. But Mozart wasn't composing for a nine-foot-long, thousand-pound piano; he was composing for a five-and-a-half-foot-long, hundred-and-fifty-pound piano built from balsa wood and dental floss.”

“Libby was more beautiful than any movie star. She just didn’t know it, which he loved about her.”

“Listen,” he said gently and stepped closer. “No one can predict the future, but right now you’re the most important thing to me. I would regret it for the rest of my life if we didn’t give this a chance.”

“Because I need you more right now than I need to breathe.”