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A slavish concern for the composition of words is the sign of a bankrupt intellect. Be gone, odious wasp! You smell of decayed syllables.
Norton Juster
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Norton Juster
Age: 91 †
Born: 1929
Born: June 2
Died: 2021
Died: March 8
Architect
Author
Novelist
Writer
Brooklyn
New York
Sign
Wasp
Intellect
Decayed
Smell
Slavish
Concern
Wasps
Gone
Odious
Words
Bankrupt
Syllables
Composition
More quotes by Norton Juster
I am the Terrible Trivium, demon of petty tasks and worthless jobs, ogre of wasted effort, and monster of habit.
Norton Juster
You see, years ago I was just an ordinary bee minding my own business, smelling flowers all day, and occasionally picking up part-time work in people's bonnets. Then one day I realized that I'd never amount to anything without an education and, being naturally adept at spelling, I decided that—
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There is much worth noticing that often escapes the eye.
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What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do.
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Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty.
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You see, it's really quite simple. A simile is just a mode of comparison employing 'as' and 'like' to reveal the hidden character or essence of whatever we want to describe, and through the use of fancy, association, contrast, extension, or imagination, to enlarge our understanding or perception of human experience and observation.
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But I suppose there's a lot to see everywhere, if only you keep your eyes open.
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If you want sense, you'll have to make it yourself.
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The way you see things depends a great deal on where you look at them from.
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Just as I thought: boys are the cause of everything.
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Why, can you imagine what would happen if we named all the twos Henry or George or Robert or John or lots of other things? You'd have to say Robert plus John equals four, and if the four's name were Albert, things would be hopeless.
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Oh dear, all those words again, thought Milo as he climbed into the wagon with Tock and the cabinet members. How are you going to make it move? It doesn't have a-- Be very quiet, advised the duke, for it goes without saying.
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You may not see it now, said the Princess of Pure Reason, looking knowingly at Milo's puzzled face, but whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way.
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It's bad enough wasting time without killing it.
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I think really good books can be read by anybody.
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The Mathemagician nodded knowingly and stroked his chin several times. “You’ll find,” he remarked gently, “that the only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and that’s hardly worth the effort.
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They all looked very much like the residents of any small valley to which you've never been.
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A good book written for children can be read by adults
Norton Juster
You can't improve sound by having only silence. The problem is to use each at the proper time.
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Infinity is a dreadfully poor place. They can never manage to make ends meet.
Norton Juster