"Time is a gift, given to you, given to give you the time you need, the time you need to have the time of your life."
"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.”
"... for one of the nicest things about mathematics, or anything else you might care to learn, is that many of the things which can never be, often are. You see it's very much like your trying to reach Infinity. You know that it's there, but you just don't know where-but just because you can never reach it doesn't mean that it's not worth looking for. "
“But as you know, the most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what's in between.”
"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."
"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."
"But it's not just learning things that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things at all that matters."
"You must never feel badly about making mistakes," explained Reason quietly, "as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons."
~~~
"henceforth,
and forthwith,
let it be known by all men
that rhyme and reason
reign once more in wisdom."
...
"As the cheering continue, Rhyme leaned forward and touched Milo gently on the arm.
"They're shouting for you,'" she said with a smile.
"But I could never have done it," he objected, "without everyone's help."
"That may be true,' said Reason gravely, "but you had the courage to try; and what you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do."
"That's why," said Azaz, "there was one very important thing about our quest that we couldn't discuss until you returned.:
"I remember," said Milo eagerly. "Tell me now."
"It was impossible," said the king, looking at the Mathemagician."
"Completely impossible," said the Mathemagician, looking at the king.
...
And for the remainder of the ride Milo didn't utter a sound.
Finally, when they'd reached a broad, flat plain midway between Dictionapolis and Digitopolis, somewhat to the right of the Valley of Sound and a little to the left of the Forest of Sight, the long line of carriages and horsemen stopped, and the great carnival began. ...Alec Bings set up an enormous telescope and invited everyone to see the other side of the moon. ...King Azaz and the Mathemagician pledged that every year at this same time they would lead their armies to the mountains of Ignorance until not one demon remained, and everyone agreed that no finer carnival for no finer reason had ever been held in Wisdom.
...
And yet, even as he thought of all these things, he noticed somehow that the sky was a lovely shade of blue and that one cloud had the shape of a sailing ship. The tips of the trees held pale, young buds and the leaves were a rich deep green. Outside the window, there was so much to see, and hear, and touch--walks to take, hills to climb, caterpillars to watch as they strolled through the garden. There were voices to hear and conversations to listen to in wonder, and the special smell of each day.
And, in the very room in which he sat, there were books that could take you anywhere, and things to invent, and make, and build, and break, and all the puzzle and excitement of everything he didn't know--music to play, songs to sing, and worlds to imagine and then someday make real. His thoughts darted eagerly about as everything looked new--and worth trying."