How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
All he had to do was turn it over and look at the answers. […] Reynie stared a long moment
at the paper, sorely tempted.Then he reached out and flicked it from his desk and onto the floor.
What good would those opportunities do him if he wasn't qualified to be given them? And where was the pleasure in cheating? If he couldn't pass fairly, he didn't want to pass. (1.146-48)
Good call, Reynie. As Mr. Benedict says later, "There are tests […] and then there are tests" (4.75). And this test? It was definitely a test-test, if you get what we mean. Sure Mr. B wanted to see if they could figure out that all the answers to the questions were hidden within the test itself, but even more importantly, he wanted to make sure that the kids he recruited for his team had integrity. Because without integrity, what would stop them from simply giving up and joining Ledroptha Curtain if they were promised plum roles in his new world order?
Quote #2
"It's all part of the test, you know. Being hungry and irritable. It's important to see how you behave when other children are getting doughnuts and you're getting nothing, and how well your mind works despite being tired and thirsty." (4.2)
It's pretty easy to act principled and behave well when everything is easy—the true test of character is how you function when the chips are down. When the cookie crumbles. When life hands you lemons. When your Shmoop guide keeps giving you food analogies for things going wrong.
Quote #3
"[…] although most people care about the truth, they can nonetheless—under certain circumstances, and given proper persuasion—be diverted from it. Some, however, possess an unusually powerful love of the truth, and you children are among the few." (5.151)
With all the messages that we receive daily—from various media outlets, social networking sites, and even the people around us—it's pretty easy to be diverted from the truth. Whether we're talking about the healthfulness of eating at McDonald's, the importance of recycling, or whether or not one country is justified in attacking another, it can be easy to find yourself swayed by propaganda—unless you have a powerful love of the truth, like the MBSers, of course (though even they have trouble finding their way to the truth when the messages, faulty though they may be, are so soothing).