How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Maybe if Father were here he could help you, but I don't think I can do anything till you've managed to plow through some more time. Then things will be easier for you. But that isn't much help right now, is it?" (1.67)
Mrs. Murry's reassurance to her daughter is basically saying that being a teenager sucks, and all you can do is wait to grow out of it. "Plow" is an interesting verb choice – it's like Meg is planting the seeds that she won't be able to harvest until later in life.
Quote #2
"Your father [needs our help], of course. Now go home, loves. The time is not yet ripe. Don't worry, we won't go without you." (2.147)
This passage has another agricultural metaphor for time with "ripe," suggesting a natural development that can't be hurried. One wonders how Mrs. Whatsit is measuring ripeness – if they can travel in time, isn't one moment as good as any other? Or perhaps the Earthlings have to reach a particular moment before the Mrs. Ws can sweep them off.
Quote #3
"Well, then, someone just tell me how we got here!" Calvin's voice was still angry and his freckles seemed to stand out on his face. "Even traveling at the speed of light it would take us years and years to get here."
"Oh, we don't travel at the speed of anything," Mrs Whatsit explained earnestly. "We tesser. Or you might say, we wrinkle." (4.42-43)
Speed is, for example, miles per hour – so take the hours out of the equation and you're dividing by zero, which doesn't work...unless you're a star, apparently, and then time bends for you.