Quote

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.

Norton Juster

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Norton Juster
Age: 91 †
Born: 1929
Born: June 2
Died: 2021
Died: March 8
Architect
Author
Novelist
Writer
Brooklyn
New York
Times
Chins
Find
Gently
Thing
Hardly
Several
Stroked
Easily
Knowingly
Worth
Remarked
Effort
Nodded
Wrong
Chin

More quotes by Norton Juster

Image
Just because you have a choice, it doesn't mean that any of them 'has' to be right.
Norton Juster
Image
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—
Norton Juster
Image
Infinity is a dreadfully poor place. They can never manage to make ends meet.
Norton Juster
Image
You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and not get wet.
Norton Juster
Image
They all looked very much like the residents of any small valley to which you've never been.
Norton Juster
Image
I think really good books can be read by anybody.
Norton Juster
Image
Freedom is not a license for chaos.
Norton Juster
Image
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.
Norton Juster
Image
What you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.
Norton Juster
Image
The only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and that's hardly worth the effort.
Norton Juster
Image
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.
Norton Juster
Image
Just as I thought: boys are the cause of everything.
Norton Juster
Image
Expectations is the place you must always go to before you get to where you're going. Of course, some people never go beyond Expectations, but my job is to hurry them along whether they like it or not.
Norton Juster
Image
And some looked even more like each other than they did like themselves.
Norton Juster
Image
Have you ever heard a blindfolded octopus unwrap a cellophane-covered bathtub?
Norton Juster
Image
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.
Norton Juster
Image
One of the problems you have when you read with kids is that once they like something they want you to read it a hundred times.
Norton Juster
Image
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.
Norton Juster
Image
There are no wrong roads to anywhere.
Norton Juster
Image
It's bad enough wasting time without killing it.
Norton Juster