“Flattery is as important a machine as the lever, isn't it, Saxonberg? Give it a proper place to rest, and it can move the world.”

“Both Jamie and Claudia had acquired a talent for being near but never part of a group. (Some people, Saxonberg, never learn to do that all their lives, and some learn it all too well.)”

“Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around.”

“How can you know what is missing if you’ve never met it? You must know of something’s existence before you can notice its absence. ”

“A nasty letter or a sarcastic one can make you righteously angry, but what can you do about a polite letter of rejection? Nothing, really, except cry.”

“Jamie: The only kind of deal that I can make is with money, and we haven't got any of that.Mrs. Frankweiler: You are very poor indeed if that is the only kind of deal you can make”

“Before you can be anything, you have to be yourself. That's the hardest thing to find.”