Trenton Lee Stewart citations

“May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home.”

“Rules and school are tools for fools! I don't give two mules for rules.”

“Oh, here’s a clever one. Do you remember this question from the first test? It reads, ‘What’s wrong with this statement?’ And do you know what Constance wrote in reply? She wrote, ‘What’s wrong with you?”

“Is this what family is like: the feeling that everyone’s connected, that with one piece missing, the whole thing’s broken?”

“And please don't call me that."

I didn't call you 'that', I called you George Washington.”

“Every great thinker keeps a journal, you know.”

“Children are capable of such open rudeness.”

“The missing aren't missing, they're only departed,
All minds keep all thoughts - so like gold - closely guarded”

“Now listen, we need to be quiet as mice. No, quieter than that. As quiet as… as…”
“Dead mice?” Reynie suggested.
“Perfect,” said Kate with an approving nod. “As quiet as dead mice.”

“Poor Kate,” said Constance, “she’s lost her marbles.”

“Remember, children. For every exit, there is also an entrance. ~ Milligan, The Mysterious Benedict Society”

“One problem with being a leader, is that even among your friends you are alone, for it is you -- and you alone -- to whom the others look for final guidance.”

“Grow the lawn and mow the lawn
always keep the TV on,
brush your teeth and kill the germs,
poison apples, poison worms.”

“The gym is always open, except when it's closed.”

“Daddy, will you take me to the mill, again?”

“Reynie's fce fell. 'It's not funny, Kate.'
For a moment - a fleeting moment - Kate looked desperately sad. 'Well, of course it's not funny, Reynie Muldoon. But what do you want me to do? Cry?”

“What is life without laughter?”

“Remember the White Knight.”

“Was it worse for him, Reynie wondered, to have felt loved and then rejected? Or was it worse to have always felt alone?”

“She announced her age right away, for children consider their ages every bit as important as their names.”

“She was a thin woman in a mustard-yellow suit, with a yellowish complexion, short-cropped rusty red hair, and a stiff posture. She reminded Reynie of a giant walking pencil.”

“'Is that really the best you can say? An average-looking boy? An awful lot of boys are average-looking, S. Q.!' And poor S. Q., he just kept arguing that 'this boy was especially average-looking.' " ~ Kate Wetherall, The Mysterious Benedict Society”

“I hopehaven't given up on the S. Q.'s of the world, Reynie. As you see, there are a great many sheep in wolves' clothing. If not for S. Q.'s good nature, we'd never have escaped.”

“Milligan! Come and tell us why you're so dreadfully glum!" ~ Constance, The Mysterious Benedict Society”

“Everything is as it should be.”

“I can't say for sure, because I have no experience, but -- well, is this what family is like? The feeling that everyone's connected, that with one piece missing the whole thing's broken?”