From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

If you think of doing something in New York City, you can be certain that at least two thousand other people have had that same thought. And of the two thousand who do, about one thousand will be standing in line waiting to do it.

Quoted on May 19, 2022

What happened was: they became a team, a family of two. There had been times before they ran away when they acted like a team, but those were very different from feeling like a team. Becoming a team didn't mean the end of their arguments. But it did mean that the arguments became a part of the adventure, became discussions not threats. To an outsider the arguments would appear to be the same because feeling like part of a team is something that happens invisibly. You might call it caring. You could even call it love. And it is very rarely, indeed, that it happens to two people at the same time-- especially a brother and a sister who had always spent more time with activities than they had with each other.

Quoted on January 6, 2011

The adventure is over. Everything gets over, and nothing is ever enough. Except the part you carry with you. It's the same as going on a vacation. Some people spend all their time on a vacation taking pictures so that when they get home they can show their friends evidence that they had a good time. They don't pause to let the vacation enter inside of them and take that home.

Quoted on January 6, 2011

Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around.

Quoted on January 6, 2011