“Reader, you may ask this question; in fact, you must ask this question: Is it ridiculous for a very small, sickly, big-eared mouse to fall in love with a beautiful princess named Pea?The answer is . . . yes. Of course, it's ridiculous.Love is ridiculous.But love is also wonderful. And powerful.”

“Love is ridiculous. But love is also wonderful. And powerful. And Despereaux's love for the Princess Pea would prove, in time, to be all of these things: powerful, wonderful, and ridiculous.”

“Besides, who ever asked you what you wanted in this world, girl?The answer to that question, reader, as you well know, was absolutely no one.”

“Forgiveness, reader, is, I think, something very much like hope and love - a powerful, wonderful thing.And a ridiculous thing, too.”

“Once there was a princess who was very beautiful. She shone bright as the stars on a moonless night. But what difference did it make that she was beautiful? None. No difference."Why did it make no difference?" asked Abilene.Because," said Pellegrina, "She was a princess who loved no one and cared nothing for love, even though there were many who loved her.”

“The longer he marched, the more convinced Peter became that things were indeed hopeless and that an elephant was a ridiculous answer to any question- but a particularly ridiculous answer to a question posed by the human heart.”

“We must ask ourselves these questions as often as we dare. How will the world change if we do not question it?”