“Magic is always impossible.... It begins with the impossible and ends with the impossible and is impossible in between. That is why it's magic.”

“If the world held magic powerful enough to make the elephant appear, then there must exist, too, magic in equal measure, magic powerful enough to undo what had been done. ”

“What is?', he said. 'What if?' is a question that belongs to magic.”

“In a dark time, doors will sometimes magically open and let us step inside to the warmth and light of a community.”

“And so he was reading the story as if it were a spell and the words of it, spoken aloud, could make magic happen.”

“I intended lilies, said the magician. but in the clutches of a desparate desire to do something extraordinary, I called down a greater magic and inadvertently caused you a profound harm. I will now try to undo what I have done.”

“Despereaux was reading the story out loud to himself. He was reading from the beginning so that he could get to the end...”