How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I told her that I was taught never to use the word you are defining in its definition and that she ought to think of a substitute word for letter if she is defining it. Mother then made a remark about how Western Civilization was in a decline because people of my generation knew how to nitpick but not how to write a B & B Letter. ("Noah Writes a B & B Letter".1)
Noah may have a lot of knowledge, but he's not wise, at least not yet. We're pretty sure he's going to gain wisdom, though.
Quote #2
I must have heard him say it a dozen times, and I never knew what to say either. At first I wondered if that was because I didn't know the meaning of ironic. So I looked it up. ("Noah Writes a B & B Letter".42)
Noah recognizes that he doesn't know something, and rather than let it go, he decides that he'll seek out the right answer. Nobody else is making him figure out what "ironic" means. He truly wants to know.
Quote #3
"The tone of being patient and tolerant as if the questions I am asking are dumb questions. They are not dumb questions. I need to know what you know that I do not."
"I don't know what you don't know, so how can I know what I know and you don't?"
"Now, that is a dumb question. That is really a very stupid question." ("Nadia Tells of Turtle Love".118-120)
Nadia's angry because other people know things she doesn't. She can't stand not knowing the things other people know when the knowledge in question is related to her own life.