Quotes from Brian Selznick

I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason.

He often took me to the studio where the movies were made and I remember it as if it were yesterday. I remember how the sun shone through all the windows. I thought it looked like a fairytale palace. One afternoon your husband appeared and shook my hand. And he told me something I never forgot. He crouched on one knee and whispered to me, "If you ever wanted to know where dreams come from when you're sleeping at night, you just have to look around you, that's where they are made.

i like to imagine that the world is one big machine. you know machines never have any extra parts. they have exact number and type they need. so i figure if the world is a big machine, i have to be here for some reason. and that means you have to be here for some reason, too.

Did you ever notice that all machines are made for some reason?' He asked Isabelle. 'They are built to make to make you laugh, like the mouse here, or to tell the time, like clocks, or to fill you with wonder, like the automaton. Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do.

If the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason too.

Maybe the play wasn't about miracles. No, maybe it was about the passage of time, and the need for patience, and the ability to forgive. Maybe Shakespeare was saying that even in a world where miracles can happen, there's still going to pain, and lost, and regret. Because sometimes people die and you can't bring them back. That's what life is Joseph realized, miracles and sadness, side by side.

As I look out at you all gathered here I want to say that I don't see a room full of Parisians in top hats and diamonds and silk dresses. I don't see bankers and housewives and store clerks. No. I address you all tonight as you truly are: wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventures, and magicians. You are the true dreamers.

There would just be... answers. You don't feel wonder at things you know the answer to. Life without wonder seems sad.

I soon found out that I wasn't the only magician to turn to cinema. Many of us recognized that a new kind of magic had been invented, and we wanted to be part of it.

Sabes qué, Tortuguita? -le dijo antes de salir de casa hacia el colegio-. De vez en cuando hay que sacar la cabeza de la concha... Habla, sé valiente.

I address you all tonight for who you truly are: wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventurers, and magicians. You are the true dreamers.

Maybe we are all cabinets of wonders.

Ben wished the world was organized by the Dewey decimal system. That way you'd be able to find whatever you were looking for.

I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.

Time can play all sorts of tricks on you. In the blink of an eye, babies appear in carriages, coffins disappear into the ground, wars are won and lost, and children transform, like butterflies, into adults.

If you've ever wondered where your dreams come from when you go to sleep at night, just look around. This is where they are made.

Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do...Maybe it's the same with people," Hugo continued. "If you lose your purpose...it's like your broken.

As I look out at all of you gathered here, I want to say that I don't see a room full of Parisians in top hats and diamonds and silk dresses. I don't see bankers and housewives and store clerks. No. I address you all tonight as you truly are: wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventurers, and magicians. You are the true dreamers.

Even if all the clocks in the station break down, thought Hugo, time won't stop. Not even if you really want it to. Like now.

I hope the snow covers everything so all the footsteps are silenced, and the whole city can be at peace.

Sometimes I come up here at night...just to look at the city. I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.

Fairy tales only happen in movies." -George Melies from The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Like a mermaid rising from an ocean of paper, the girl emerged across the room.

In that moment, the machinery of the world lined up. Somewhere a clock struck midnight, and Hugo's future seemed to fall perfectly into place.