Life holds one great but quite commonplace mystery. Though shared by each of us and known to all, seldom rates a second thought. That mystery, which most of us take for granted and never think twice about, is time.

The critics will never forgive you such. "Michael Ende. par.

He is best known for his epic fantasy work The Neverending Story; other famous works include Momo and Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver. Ende often found frustration in being perceived as exclusively an author for children considering himself rather a man intending to speak of cultural problems and spiritual wisdom to people of all ages in his works; he wrote in 1985:
"One may enter the literary parlor via just about any door be it the prison door the madhouse door or the brothel door. However Ende was not strictly a children's author as he also wrote books for adults.