Title: The Phantom Tollbooth
Author: Norton Juster
Published: 1961

The world is full of beautiful, unexpected things, but they can only be seen by those who are looking. Everyday the sun rises and sets and dusts the sky with blues, purples, and oranges. And each season bestows these daily displays with subtle changes.

It’s the easiest thing to mortgage the current moment in favor for some distant future or to mourn what has passed and fail to enjoy the present. It requires effort to be here now.

Milo is awakened to a world of possibilities when a tollbooth turns up and opens him to wonder and curiosity. And every day we can make this choice. We don’t need a tollbooth.