It is sometimes necessary to use unnecessary words like thank you and please just to make life prettier.

— E.L. Konigsburg

It takes more courage to disturb the neighborhood than it takes to disturb the universe. And the price is often higher.

— E.L. Konigsburg

I've been the oldest child since before you were born

— E.L. Konigsburg

I waited for her to catch up, and when I did, she slowed down, and I missed seeing the light in her hair. I never told Nadia how much I liked seeing the halo the sunlight made of her hair. Sometimes silence is a habit that hurts.

— E.L. Konigsburg

I want all the books on the

— E.L. Konigsburg

Let me first talk about our brains as a personal radio telescope. Let me talk first about its wonderful built-in wiring for tuning out the static of our civilization in order to better tune in its symphony.

— E.L. Konigsburg

Nathan, how can you stand playing the same piece over and over again?" And Grandpa Nate answered, "Why don't you ask me how I can stand making love to the same woman over and over again?

— E.L. Konigsburg

Secrets are the kind of adventure she needs. Secrets are safe, and they do much to make you different. On the inside where it counts.

— E.L. Konigsburg

Since language is the only tool with which writers can reflect and shape a culture, it must be transformed into art. Language is not a limitation on the art of literature; it is a glorification. It has been the scaffolding inside which nations and philosophies have been built, and the language of literature has added the ornamental pediment by which the culture is remembered.

— E.L. Konigsburg

Some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up and touch everything. If you never let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you.

— E.L. Konigsburg