But you will admit that it is a very good thing to be alive. - L. Frank Baum

"Can't you give me brains?" asked the Scarecrow.
"You don't need them. You are learning something every day. A baby has brains, but it doesn't know much. Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more experience you are sure to get."

The nomes are immortal; that is, they do not perish, as mortals do, unless they happen to come in contact with an egg. If an egg touches them — either the outer shell or the inside of the egg — the nomes lose their charm of perpetual life and thereafter are liable to die through accident or old age, just as all humans are.

...thanks for good deeds do not amount to much except to prove one's politeness.