"Never grow up...always down.”
This is an ironic quote because of course the idea of growing up has two meanings within the context of the story – growing up in terms of transitioning from boyhood to adulthood, and also growing up in the literal sense of getting bigger. The potion that George makes does indeed cause his grandmother to grow taller but at the same time the second potion he makes, makes her grow ‘down’ again.
"For a few brief moments he had touched with the very tips of his fingers the edge of a magic world.”
This quote is at the end of the novel and indeed it is ironic because out of everything George had accomplished with his potions, i.e. making people smaller and making legs longer etc, making his grandmother disappear is his greatest achievement in his eyes.
