\documentstyle[12pt]{article}
\begin{document}
The following quotation should remind you of one of
the amusing incidents in {\em Alice Through the Looking
Glass.}
\begin{quote} \small
The King's argument was, that anything that had a head
could be beheaded, and that you weren't to talk nonsense.
The Queen's argument was, that if something wasn't
done about it in less than no time she'd have everybody
executed, all round. (It was this last remark that had made
the whole party look so grave and anxious.)
\end{quote}
And there you have it.
\end{document}
Note that \small<.code> doesn't have to have a
scope delimiter or an accompanying \normalsize<.code>
since environments always create a scope.