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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes

@phantomtollbot.bsky.social
1.2K followers 122 following 2.2K posts

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. — To read all its wit and wisdom, get a copy from a local bookstore or library.

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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 13h
The sky became quite gray and, along with it, the whole countryside seemed to lose its color and assume the same monotonous tone. Everything was quiet, and even the air hung heavily. The birds sang only gray songs and the road wound back and forth in an endless series of climbing curves.
Milo’s car, winding along a desolate road, along a blank landscape that gets darker and darker ahead
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
“I thought you were the Weather Man,” said Milo, very confused. “Oh no,” said the little man, “I’m the Whether Man, not the Weather Man, for after all it’s more important to know whether there will be weather than what the weather will be.”
A short, smiling, bald, bearded man wearing a robe, releasing a balloon into the sky
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
The sun sparkled, the sky was clear, and all the colors he saw seemed to be richer and brighter than he could ever remember. The flowers shone as if they’d been cleaned and polished, and the tall trees that lined the road shimmered in silvery green.
Milo driving through a lush and enticing landscape
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
For lack of anything better to do, Milo drove slowly up to the tollbooth. As he deposited his coin and rolled past he remarked wistfully, “I do hope this is an interesting game, otherwise the afternoon will be so terribly dull.”
Milo in his toy electric car
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
As the announcement stated, it was a beautiful map, in many colors, showing principal roads, rivers and seas, towns and cities, mountains and valleys, intersections and detours, and sites of outstanding interest both beautiful and historic.
A map of The Lands Beyond, including Digitopolis, Dictionopolis, the Sea of Knowledge, and more
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
And in smaller letters at the bottom it concluded: “RESULTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED, BUT IF NOT PERFECTLY SATISFIED, YOUR WASTED TIME WILL BE REFUNDED.”
Milo, standing in front of a newly erected toy tollbooth
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
“And worst of all,” he continued sadly, “there’s nothing for me to do, nowhere I’d care to go, and hardly anything worth seeing.” He punctuated this last thought with such a deep sigh that a house sparrow singing nearby stopped and rushed home to be with his family.
Milo walking along sullenly, with a shocked bird flying over his head
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Each day is a new 5x5 Plot of letters. Your goal is to use all the letters to form words—AKA worms—by connecting adjacent letters (including diagonals). Longer worms are worth more points, and if you achieve the highest scoring plot that day, you’re a Worm Wiz 🧙!
A sample 5x5 grid of lettersA sample grid of letters, in which all letters have been connected to form worms
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
His thoughts darted eagerly about as everything looked new— and worth trying. "Well, I would like to make another trip," he said, jumping to his feet; "but I really don't know when I'll have the time. There's just so much to do right here."
Milo, sitting at home in an armchair, looking out the window with excitement
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Where the tollbooth had been just the night before, there was now nothing at all. He searched frantically throughout the apartment, but it had vanished just as mysteriously as it had come—and in its place was another bright-blue envelope, which was addressed simply: "FOR MILO, WHO NOW KNOWS THE WAY"
Dear Milo,
You have now completed your trip, courtesy of the Phantom Tollbooth. We trust that everything has been satisfactory, and hope you understand why we had to come and collect it. You see, there are so many other boys and girls waiting to use it, too.
It's true that there are many lands you've still to visit (some of which are not even on the map) and wonderful things to see (that no one has yet imagined), but we're quite sure that if you really want to, you'll find a way to reach them all by yourself.
Yours truly,
The signature was blurred and couldn't be read.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
"Thank you for everything you've taught me," said Milo to everybody as a tear rolled down his cheek.
Milo looking sadly at the princesses, Tock, and the Humbug
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"Henceforth," "And forthwith," "Let it be known by all men" "That Rhyme and Reason" "Reign once more in Wisdom." "And furthermore," "The boy named Milo," "The dog known as Tock," "And the insect hereinafter referred to as the Humbug" "Are hereby declared to be" "Heroes of the realm."
One of the advisers of Dictionopolis, reading from a scroll
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Milo slowly raised his weary head, and there in the horizon, for as far as the eye could see, stood the massed armies of Wisdom, the sun glistening from their swords and shields, and their bright banners slapping proudly at the breeze.
Armies of wisdom, on horseback, holding spears
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The demons loomed as the chase neared its end. Then, gathering themselves for one final leap, they prepared to engulf first the bug, then the boy, and lastly the dog and his two passengers. They rose as one and— And suddenly stopped, as if frozen in mid-air, unable to move, staring ahead in terror.
Assorted demons in the mountains of ignorance
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
"But how will we get down?" groaned the Humbug, looking at the wreckage below. "There's no stairway and we're sailing higher every minute." "Well, time flies, doesn't it?" asked Milo. "On many occasions," barked Tock, jumping eagerly to his feet. "I'll take everyone down."
The princesses Rhyme and Reason, riding on the back of Tock the watchdog, while Milo hangs onto Tock’s tail and the Humbug dangles behind, holding onto Milo’s foot. They’re all flying down from a castle that’s floating away in the sky.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"That's just what I mean," explained Milo as Tock and the exhausted bug drifted quietly off to sleep. "Many of the things I'm supposed to know seem so useless that I can't see the purpose in learning them at all." (Pure Reason’s full response is in the attached image)
"You may not see it now," said the Princess of Pure Reason, looking knowingly at Milo's puzzled face,
"but whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way. Why, when a housefly flaps his wings, a breeze goes round the world; when a speck of dust falls to the ground, the entire planet weighs a little more; and when you stamp your foot, the earth moves slightly off its course. Whenever you laugh, gladness spreads like the ripples in a pond; and whenever you're sad, no one anywhere can be really happy. And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer."
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
"You must be the Princess of Pure Reason," said Milo. She answered simply, "Yes," and that was enough. "Then you are Sweet Rhyme," he said, with a smile to the other. Her eyes sparkled brightly and she answered with a laugh as friendly as the mailman's ring when you know there's a letter for you.
The princesses of Sweet Rhyme and Pure Reason, sitting on either side of Milo on an elegant bench
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
"Oh, this won't take a minute," the man assured them. "I'm the official Senses Taker, and I must have some information before I can take your senses. Now, if you'll just tell me when you were born, where you were born, why you were born, how old you are now, how old you were then, how old you'll be…
An old man wearing a visor and glasses, hunched over a ledger book, holding a quill. He and the book are covered in ink blots and stains
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
"I'm afraid of everything. That's why I'm so ferocious. If the others found out, I'd just die. Now do be quiet while I eat my breakfast." He raised his hand toward his gaping mouth and the Humbug shut his eyes tightly and clasped both hands over his head.
A giant that looks very similar to the mountains he’s sitting down in front of. He’s holding Milo, Tock, and the Humbug in the palm of one hand.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Milo climbed onto the dog's shoulders. Then the bug crawled up both of them and, by standing on Milo's head, just managed to hook his cane on the root of an old gnarled tree. With loud complaints he hung on doggedly until the other two had climbed out over him and pulled him up.
Tock at the bottom of a deep hole, with Milo standing on his head, then the Humbug standing on Milo’s head. The Humbug is reaching his cane up to the top of the hole, and has hooked it around the root of a tree.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"I'm the demon of insincerity," he sobbed. "I don't mean what I say, I don't mean what I do, and I don't mean what I am. Most people who believe what I tell them go the wrong way, and stay there, but you have spoiled everything." "It certainly pays to have a good look at things," observed Milo.
The demon of insincerity. A short round body with long feet and a sullen, sheepish face
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"If you only do the easy and useless jobs, you'll never have to worry about the important ones which are so difficult. You just won't have the time. For there's always something to do to keep you from what you really should be doing,”
The Terrible Trivium, demon of petty tasks and worthless jobs, ogre of wasted effort, and monster of habit.

He’s an elegant man dressed in a full suit, with a pocket square and a flower in his lapel, a bowler hat, shiny shoes, clean nails, and no face.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"Don't try to leave," he ordered, with a menacing sweep of his arm, "for there's so very much to do, and you still have over eight hundred years to go on the first job."
Milo moving grains one at a time with tweezers, rock moving water from one well to another with an eyedropper, and the Humbug digging a tunnel through the mountain with a needle.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
When they had all been safely started, the very pleasant man returned to the tree and, leaning against it once more, continued to stare vacantly down the trail, while Milo, Tock, and the Humbug worked hour after hour after hour after hour after hour after hour after hour after hour after hour after—
Milo, Tock, and the Humbug doing menial, tedious tasks.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
They reached the crest, only to find that beyond it lay another one even higher, and beyond that several more, whose tops were lost in the swirling darkness. The path became broad and flat, and just ahead, leaning comfortably against a dead tree, stood a very elegant-looking gentleman.
leaning comfortably against a dead tree, a very elegant-looking gentleman in a suit and bowler hat, with no face
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"Must you always interrupt like that?" said Tock irritably, for even he was becoming impatient. "Naturally," the bird cackled; "it's my job. I take the words right out of your mouth. Haven't we met before? I'm the Everpresent Wordsnatcher.”
The large, dirty, greasy bird on a perch above Milo, Tock, and the Humbug, who are all looking up at him
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"We're looking for a place to spend the night." "It's not yours to spend," the bird shrieked again, and followed it with the same horrible laugh. "That doesn't make any sense, you see—" he started to explain. "Dollars or cents, it's still not yours to spend," the bird replied haughtily.
A large, dirty, greasy bird
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The higher they went, the darker it became, though it wasn't the darkness of night, but rather more like a mixture of lurking shadows and evil intentions which oozed from the slimy moss-covered cliffs and blotted out the light. The air was thick and heavy, as if it had been used several times before
The Mathemagician, Milo, Tock, and the Humbug looking at a long path winding into the dark mountains
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"He's much too unreasonable," interrupted the Mathemagician again. "Why, just last month I sent him a very friendly letter, which he never had the courtesy to answer. See for yourself." He handed Milo a copy of the letter, which read:
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"Oh, we're just the average family," he said thoughtfully; "mother, father, and 2.58 children—and, as I explained, I'm the .58." "It must be rather odd being only part of a person," Milo remarked. "Not at all. Every average family has 2.58 children, so I always have someone to play with.”
Milo sitting on a step, looking at and talking to .58 of a boy, split vertically down the (almost) center
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Milo struggled on for a while longer, until at last, completely exhausted, he collapsed onto one of the steps. "I should have known it," he mumbled, resting his tired legs and filling his lungs with air. "This is just like the line that goes on forever, and I'll never get there."
Milo climbing an interminable staircase
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"No, that's not what I mean," objected Milo. "Can you show me the longest number there is?" "Surely," said the Mathemagician, opening another door. "Here it is. It took three carts to carry it here." Inside this closet was the longest 8 imaginable. It was just about as wide as the three was high.
A very long, wide eight
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"Can you show me the biggest number there is?" "I'd be delighted," he replied, opening one of the closet doors. "We keep it right here. It took four miners just to dig it out." Inside was the biggest 3 Milo had ever seen. It was fully twice as high as the Mathemagician.
A very tall three
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
He returned them as carefully as possible but, as he did, one dropped to the floor with a smash and broke in two. The Humbug winced and Milo looked terribly concerned. "Oh, don't worry about that," said the Mathemagician as he scooped up the pieces. "We use the broken ones for fractions."
The Mathemagician. He’s wearing a robe and tall pointed hat, both completely covered in mathematical formulas and expressions. He’s holding a long, thin staff shaped like a pencil, with a pointy end and an eraser end
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
He pulled out a small object, which he polished vigorously on his robe. When he held it up to the light, it sparkled brightly. "But that's a five," objected Milo, for that was certainly what it was. "Exactly," agreed the Mathemagician; "as valuable a jewel as you'll find anywhere.“
The mathematician—a bearded man in a robe and pointy had, both all covered in mathematical expressions, holding a long staff shaped like a pencil—speaks excitedly to Milo and Tock. They’re all standing inside a mine.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The Mathemagician was dressed in a long flowing robe covered entirely with complex mathematical equations and a tall pointed cap that made him look very wise. In his left hand he carried a long staff with a pencil point at one end and a large rubber eraser at the other.
The Mathemagician. He’s wearing a robe and tall pointed hat, both completely covered in mathematical formulas and expressions. He’s holding a long, thin staff shaped like a pencil, with a pointy end and an eraser end
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"My angles are many. My sides are not few. I'm the Dodecahedron. Who are you?" "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."
The dodecahedron: a man in court attire, wearing a beret, but whose head is shaped like a dodecahedron, with one face (eyes, nose, mouth) on each side.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"Let's travel by miles," advised the Humbug; "it's shorter." "Let's travel by half inches," suggested Milo; "it's quicker."

DIGITOPOLIS
5 Miles
1,600 Rods
8,800 Yards
26,400 Feet
316,800 Inches
633,600 Half inches
AND THEN SOME
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"You can never jump away from Conclusions. Getting back is not so easy. That's why we're so terribly crowded here."
A group of people standing on a rocky shoreline. They are all gray and forlorn-looking, staring off to the sea.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"I'm as tall as can be and I'm as short as can be. I'm as generous as can be, and I'm as selfish as can be. I'm as strong as can be, and I'm as weak as can be. I'm as smart as can be, and I'm as stupid as can be," he admitted, putting both feet in one shoe.
A man in a tweet coat lying on his back, wearing an unusual cap and trying to fit both feet into one shoe.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"Nothing can possibly go wrong now," cried the Humbug happily and as soon as he'd said it he leaped from the car, as if stuck by a pin, and sailed all the way to the little island.
The Humbug, flying through the air away from the car and towards an island
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"It will take years to collect all those sounds again," she sobbed, "and even longer to put them back in proper order. But it's all my fault. For you can't improve sound by having only silence. The problem is to use each at the proper time."
The Soundkeeper sitting sadly on a pile of rubble. Milo, Tock, and the Humbug are looking at her with sad concern. In the background, a crowd of people are talking to each other.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Milo stood on tiptoe, leaned over into the cannon's mouth, and parted his lips. The small sound dropped silently to the bottom and everything was ready. In another moment the fuse was lit and sputtering.
Milo whispers the word “but” into a cannon
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"Do you know what a handclap looks like?" Milo shook his head. "Try it," she commanded. He clapped his hands once and a single sheet of clean white paper fluttered to the floor. He tried it three more times and three more sheets of paper did the very same thing.
Milo, clapping, with sheets of paper in the air all around him.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"Isn't that lovely? It's my favorite program-fifteen minutes of silence-and after that there's a half hour of quiet and then an interlude of lull. Why, did you know that there are almost as many kinds of stillness as there are sounds? But, sadly enough, no one pays any attention to them these days.”
The Soundkeeper: a woman sitting in a chair, with a tall pointy hat, listening to a speaker with a bunch of dials and knobs below it.
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
A small man, with his arms full of letters and messages, pushed through the crowd and offered them to Milo. Milo took one which read:
Dear Soundkeeper,

We had a thunderstorm last week and the thunder still hasn’t arrived. How long should we wait?

Yours truly,
A friend
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
"HAVE YOU COME TO HELP US?" asked another, stepping forward with his question. "PLEASE!" added a third. Milo tried desperately to say who he was and where he was going, but to no avail. As he did, four more placards announced:
The word “listen” is crossed out. Otherwise, the text says:

"LISTEN LOOK CAREFULLY"
"AND WE"
"WILL TELL YOU"
"OF OUR TERRIBLE MISFORTUNE"
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
When the car had stopped, one of them held up a placard which said: "WELCOME TO THE VALLEY OF SOUND." And the others cheered as loudly as possible, which was not very loud at all.
A crowd of people holding placards and banners reading “down with silence,” “all quiet is no diet,” “it’s laudable to be audible,” and “sound for all”
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Hardly noticing where they were going, they had driven into the midst of a large crowd of people marching along the road. Some of them were singing at the tops of their nonexistent voices and the others were carrying large signs which proclaimed:
"DOWN WITH SILENCE"
"ALL QUIET IS NO DIET"
"IT'S LAUDABLE TO BE AUDIBLE"
"MORE SOUND FOR ALL"
And one enormous banner stated simply:
"HEAR HERE"
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The Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"You mean you've never met the awful DYNNE before?" said Dr. Dischord in a surprised tone. "Why, I thought everyone had. When you're playing in your room and making a great amount of noise, what do they tell you to stop?" "That awful din," admitted Milo.
Milo and the DYNNE, a semi-humanoid smoke cloud, doubled over in laughter
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