“Quite correct!” he shrieked triumphantly. “I am the Terrible Trivium, demon of petty tasks and worthless jobs, ogre of wasted effort, and monster of habit.”

“All talk stopped. No words were sold, the market place closed down, and the people grew poor and disconsolate. When the king saw what had happened, he became furious and had me cast into this dungeon where you see me now, an older and wiser woman. “That was all many years ago,” she continued; “but they never appointed a new Which, and that

The sun was dropping slowly from sight, and stripes of purple and orange and crimson and gold piled themselves on top of the distant hills. The last shafts of light waited patiently for a flight of wrens to find their way home, and a group of anxious stars had already taken their places.

“That’s absurd,” objected Milo, whose head was spinning from all the numbers and questions. “That may be true,” he acknowledged, “but it’s completely accurate, and as long as the answer is right, who cares if the question is wrong? If you want sense, you’ll have to make it yourself.”

The rewards of laughter come with memorable cautions against the distractions of trivia: the recognition that a sense of humor can preserve purpose and proportion, and that even the smallest “but” can topple unjustified authority. Its fun packs a wallop.

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.”

“How can you see something that isn’t there?” yawned the Humbug, who wasn’t fully awake yet. “Sometimes it’s much simpler than seeing things that are,” he said. “For instance, 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

“Are you the fattest thin man in the world?” asked Tock. “Do you know one that’s fatter?” he asked impatiently. “I think you’re all the same man,” said Milo emphatically. “S-S-S-S-S-H-H-H-H-H-H-H,” he cautioned, putting his finger up to his lips and drawing Milo closer. “Do you want to ruin everything? You see, to tall men I’m a midget, and to

“Slowly at first, and then in a rush, more people came to settle here and brought with them new ways and new sounds, some very beautiful and some less so. But everyone was so busy with the things that had to be done that they scarcely had time to listen at all. And, as you know, a sound which is not heard disappears forever and is not to be found