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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
Intellect
Decayed
Smell
Slavish
Wasps
Concern
Odious
Gone
Bankrupt
Words
Syllables
Composition
Sign
Wasp

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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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If you want sense, you'll have to make it yourself.
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Why not? That's a good reason for almost anything - a bit used perhaps, but still quite serviceable.
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What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do.
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if something is there, you can only see it with your eyes open, but if it isn't there, you can see it just as well with your eyes closed. That's why imaginary things are often easier to see than real ones.
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I think really good books can be read by anybody.
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You can't improve sound by having only silence. The problem is to use each at the proper time.
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There are good books and there are bad books, period, that's the distinction.
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You must never feel badly about making mistakes.
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I never knew words could be so confusing, Milo said to Tock as he bent down to scratch the dog's ear. Only when you use a lot to say a little, answered Tock. Milo thought this was quite the wisest thing he'd heard all day.
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It's bad enough wasting time without killing it.
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Freedom is not a license for chaos.
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I am the Terrible Trivium, demon of petty tasks and worthless jobs, ogre of wasted effort, and monster of habit.
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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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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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The only other thing which I think is important is: Don't write a book or start a book with the expectation of communicating a message in a very important way.
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And remember, also, added the Princess of Sweet Rhyme, that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.
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Perhaps someday you can have one city as easy to see as Illusions and as hard to forget as Reality.
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AHA! interrupted Officer Shrift, making another note in his little book. Just as I thought: boys are the cause of everything.
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You see, to tall men I'm a midget, and to short men I'm a giant to the skinny ones I'm a fat man, and to the fat ones I'm a thin man.
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