Trenton Lee Stewart > Quotes

“You must remember, family is often born of blood, but it doesn't depend on blood. Nor is it exclusive of friendship. Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

“Rules and school are tools for fools! I don't give two mules for rules.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“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?”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Is this what family is like: the feeling that everyone’s connected, that with one piece missing, the whole thing’s broken?”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“And please don't call me that."

I didn't call you 'that', I called you George Washington.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Every great thinker keeps a journal, you know.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“The missing aren't missing, they're only departed,
All minds keep all thoughts - so like gold - closely guarded,”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Why, then, do you think the white player might have done it?”

Reynie considered. He imagined himself moving out his knight only to bring it right back to where it started. Why would he ever do such a thing? At last he said, “Perhaps because he doubted himself.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Children are capable of such open rudeness.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“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.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

“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.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Poor Kate,” said Constance, “she’s lost her marbles.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Grow the lawn and mow the lawn
always keep the TV on,
brush your teeth and kill the germs,
poison apples, poison worms.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

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

“You've read half the books in this house? This whole house?"
"Well, approximately half." Sticky said. "To be more accurate, I suppose I've read more like" - his eyes went up as he calculated - "three sevenths? Yes, three sevenths."
"Only three sevenths?" said Kate, pretending to look disappointed. "And here I was prepared to be impressed.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

“What is life without laughter?”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“The answer to this riddle has a hole in the middle,
And some have been known to fall in it.
In tennis it's nothing, but it can be received,
And sometimes a person may win it.
Though not seen or heard it may be perceived,
Like princes or bees it's in clover.
The answer to this riddle has a hole in the middle,
And without it one cannot start over.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

“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?”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Daddy, will you take me to the mill, again?”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“The gym is always open, except when it's closed.”
― trenton lee stewart

“Remember the White Knight.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Was it worse for him, Reynie wondered, to have felt loved and then rejected? Or was it worse to have always felt alone?”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“Did the men steal the papers?" Reynie asked, fearing her response.
No, because they are fools," Sophie said bitterly. "They demanded to see the papers, and when I did not answer fast enough -- they were very frightening, you see -- they hurt me so that I was not awake. . . . When I opened my eyes they were still trying to find the papers. They did not understand how we organize the library, you see. They were angry and creating a bad mess. . . . The police were coming and the men decided they must leave. I shouted at them as they left: 'It is a free and public library! All you had to do was ask!”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

“She announced her age right away, for children consider their ages every bit as important as their names.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society

“ '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”
― Trenton Lee Stewart

“I hope you haven'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.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

“Kate seemed to have doubled in size. She had drawn back her broad shoulders and set her jaw, and something in the stance called to mind the contained ferocity of a lioness. But it was the fierceness in Kate's bright blue eyes that had the most striking effect. The sort of look that made you thankful she wasn't your enemy. "It's not going to be over," Kate said firmly "Until we say so.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

“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.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart

“Everything is as it should be.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society