“Whenever someone makes out a guest list, the people not on it become officially uninvited, and that makes them the enemies of the invited. Guest lists are just a way of choosing sides. ”

“I believe in courtesy. It is the way we avoid hurting people's feelings. She thought that maybe, just maybe, western civilization was in decline because people did not take time to take tea at four o'clock.”

“I think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside of you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It's hollow.”

“The eyes are the windows of the soul.... If someone was to look into your eyes, what would you want them to see?”

“By the time they get to 6th grade honor roll students won't risk making a mistake, and sometimes to be successful, you have to risk making mistakes.”

“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”

“Sometimes we even have to risk making fools of ourselves.”