How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I can't see the point in learning to solve useless problems, or subtracting turnips from turnips, or knowing where Ethiopia is or how to spell February." And, since no one bothered to explain otherwise, he regarded the process of seeking knowledge as the greatest waste of time of all. (1.3)
Poor Milo – he obviously doesn't have a resource like Shmoop to turn to in order to make learning less, well, boring. We kid, we kid. But seriously, Milo thinks education is simply pointless whether it's math, geography, or English. While he sees all of life as pretty much without merit, the narrator emphasizes that Milo thinks "seeking knowledge [i]s the greatest waste of time of all." If only he could go on adventure that would make him think differently…
Quote #2
"You see, years ago I was just an ordinary bee minding my own business, smelling flowers all day, and occasionally picking up part-time work in people's bonnets. Then one day I realized that I'd never amount to anything without an education and, being naturally adept at spelling, I decided that – ". (4.38)
The Bee is one of the many characters Milo meets in the Lands Beyond who values learning. Somehow, though, the encouragement to take up "an education" sounds less preachy coming from a Bee than it might from one of the adults Milo knows back at home, which makes Milo a bit more willing to hear what he has to say.
Quote #3
"You know something, Tock?" he said as he wound up the dog. "You can get in a lot of trouble mixing up words or just not knowing how to spell them. If we ever get out of here, I'm going to make sure to learn all about them." (5.42)
From here on out, Milo slowly begins to realize the value and importance of learning things. Each time he gets into a jam in the Lands Beyond, or meets someone new, he comes out the other side with a new appreciation for learning, and this is the first example.
Quote #4
"Words and numbers are of equal value, for, in the cloak of knowledge, one is warp and the other woof. It is no more important to count the sands than it is to name the stars. Therefore, let both kingdoms live in peace." (6.20)
Rhyme and Reason are punished for being reasonable and fair. They offer a compromise, which pleases no one. Both King Azaz and the Mathemagician don't want to hear that "words and numbers" need each other. They each want to hear that the one they prefer is the best. But Rhyme and Reason emphasize that knowledge needs both equally.
Quote #5
"In this box are all the words I know," he said. "Most of them you will never need, some you will use constantly, but with them you may ask all the questions which have never been answered and answer all the questions which have never been asked. All the great books of the past and all the ones yet to come are made with these words. With them there is no obstacle you cannot overcome. All you must learn to do is use them well and in the right places." (8.64)
It's funny – at first this box might seem like an amazing and magical gift. King Azaz certainly thinks it is. And the word-box will certainly come in handy for Milo in the Mountains of Ignorance. But we all have access to a gift like this any time we want. All we have to do is look in the dictionary, right?
Quote #6
"What's a Dodecahedron?" inquired Milo, who was barely able to pronounce the strange word.
"See for yourself," he said, turning around slowly. "A Dodecahedron is a mathematical shape with twelve faces." (14.13-14)
When the Dodecahedron introduces himself to Milo, Tock, and the Humbug, he emphasizes that, in Digitopolis (and perhaps throughout the Lands Beyond), education is built into life and names – and who people really are. His name is the Dodecahedron because he is a Dodecahedron, which gives Milo and the others a built-in lesson in geometry. This would be like saying Milo is named Milo because he is a Milo.
Quote #7
"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." (14.34-35)
This might sound fairly backward, compared to the way questions and answers usually go in school or on tests. Milo calls this method "absurd" because it just doesn't "make" "sense" to him to go for a "right" "answer" over a "wrong" "question." How can the question be wrong? How can you change a question so that you end up with the right answer? Shouldn't you have to know what the question is in the first place? And there our minds go again, spinning like crazy.
Quote #8
"Splendid," cried the Dodecahedron. "And suppose you had something and added less than nothing to it. What would you have then?"
"FAMINE!" roared the anguished Humbug, who suddenly realized that that was exactly what he'd eaten twenty-three bowls of. (15.27-28)
The hungry Milo, Tock, and Humbug find themselves in the middle of an unfortunate story problem. The Dodecahedron's making them do math using the real life example of getting hungrier and hungrier. What's funny is that if he were in Dictionopolis, and he said "famine," he'd probably encounter the same result, having to eat his words and all.
Quote #9
"There's nothing to it," they all said in chorus, "if you have a magic staff." Then six of them canceled themselves out and simply disappeared.
"But it's only a big pencil," the Humbug objected, tapping at it with his cane.
"True enough," agreed the Mathemagician; "but once you learn to use it, there's no end to what you can do." (15.37-39)
Yeah, it's only a pencil. But it's only a pencil in the same way that King Azaz's word-box is only a collection of words. They're all tools, and it's what the user does with them that counts. And just as we realized that we've already got a word-box at hand (the dictionary), we can all definitely scrounge up a pencil and put it to use.
Quote #10
"Don't be too sure," said the child patiently, "for one of the nicest things about mathematics, or anything else you might care to learn, is that many of the things which can never be, often are. You see," he went on, "it's very much like your trying to reach Infinity. You know that it's there, but you just don't know where – but just because you can never reach it doesn't mean that it's not worth looking for." (16.22)
It seems like everywhere Milo turns, he's getting advice about how great the whole process of learning is. Even the little boy who's only half there has an opinion about the learning process. And this awesome advice will pop up again later, when Azaz and Mathemagician tell Milo that finding Rhyme and Reason was impossible, but that because he didn't know that, it was possible. The takeaway point here seems to be, keep on dreaming, kiddo.