Whoever has the luck to be born a character can laugh even at death. Because a character will never die! A man will die, a writer, the instrument of creation: but what he has created will never die!
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Italian Dramatist, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Author
To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry.
—Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) French Philosopher, Psychoanalyst, Poet
A book is a mirror: If an ass peers into it, you can’t expect an apostle to look out.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Scientist, Critic, Writer
Books that have become classics — books that have had their day and now get more praise than perusal — always remind me of retired colonels and majors and captains who, having reached the age limit, find themselves retired on half pay.
—Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836–1907) American Poet, Novelist, Traveler, Editor
A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canada Journalist, Playwright, Academic, Critic, Novelist
This habit of reading … is your pass to the most perfect pleasure that God has prepared for his creatures. It lasts when all other pleasures fade. It will make your hours pleasant to you as long as you live.
—Anthony Trollope (1815–82) English Novelist
The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Novelist, Dramatist, Playwright, Artist
Does there, I wonder, exist a being who has read all, or approximately all, that the person of average culture is supposed to have read, and that not to have read is a social sin? If such a being does exist, surely he is an old, a very old man.
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist
Thy books should, like thy friends, not many be, yet such wherein men may thy judgment see.
—William Wycherley (1640–1715) English Dramatist
A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul.
—Franz Kafka (1883–1924) Austrian Novelist, Short Story Writer
From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it.
—Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American Actor, Comedian, Singer
All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
To me a book is a message from the gods to mankind; or, if not, should never be published at all. A message from the gods should be delivered at once. It is damnably blasphemous to talk about the autumn season and so on. How dare the author or publisher demand a price for doing his duty, the highest and most honorable to which a man can be called?
—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) English Occultist, Mystic, Magician
A novel points out that the world consists entirely of exceptions.
—Joyce Cary (1888–1957) Irish Novelist, Artist
The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts.
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92) American Quaker Poet, Abolitionist
I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves.
—E. M. Forster (1879–1970) English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist
Great literature cannot grow from a neglected or impoverished soil. Only if we actually tend or care will it transpire that every hundred years or so we might get a Middlemarch.
—P. D. James (1920–2014) British Novelist
The decline of literature indicates the decline of the nation. The two keep pace in their downward tendency.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.
—Franz Kafka (1883–1924) Austrian Novelist, Short Story Writer
When you publish a book, it’s the world’s book. The world edits it.
—Philip Roth (b.1933) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
A good metaphor is something even the police should keep an eye on.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Scientist, Critic, Writer
The great standard of literature, as to purity and exactness of style, is the Bible.
—Hugh Blair (1718–1800) Scottish Clergyman, Rhetorician, Literary Critic, Philosopher
The principle of procrastinated rape is said to be the ruling one in all the great bestsellers.
—V. S. Pritchett (1900–97) British Short Story Writer, Biographer, Memoirist, Literary Critic
A person of mature years and ripe development, who is expecting nothing from literature but the corroboration and renewal of past ideas, may find satisfaction in a lucidity so complete as to occasion no imaginative excitement, but young and ambitious students are not content with it. They seek the excitement because they are capable of the growth that it accompanies.
—Charles Cooley (1864–1929) American Sociologist
I know every book of mine by its smell, and I have but to put my nose between the pages to be reminded of all sorts of things.
—George Gissing (1857–1903) English Novelist
My early and invincible love of reading I would not exchange for all the riches of India.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
Literature is made upon any occasion that a challenge is put to the legal apparatus by conscience in touch with humanity.
—Nelson Algren (1909–81) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry.
—Earl of Chesterfield
A man ought to read just as his inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist, Biographer, Poet, Writer, Literary Critic
Literature could be said to be a sort of disciplined technique for arousing certain emotions.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) English Novelist, Philosopher
My only objection to the custom of giving books as Christmas presents is perhaps the selfish one that it encourages and keeps in the game a number of writers who would be far better employed if they abandoned the pen and took to work.
—P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Humorist
Books to judicious compilers, are useful; to particular arts and professions, they are absolutely necessary; to men of real science, they are tools: but more are tools to them.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist, Biographer, Poet, Writer, Literary Critic
Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.
—Louis L’amour
A vacuum of ideas affects people differently than a vacuum of air, otherwise readers of books would be constantly collapsing.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Scientist, Critic, Writer
No one is fit to judge a book until he has rounded Cape Horn in a sailing vessel, until he has bumped into two or three icebergs, until he has been lost in the sands of the desert, until he has spent a few years in the House of the Dead.
—Van Wyck Brooks (1886–1963) American Literary Critic, Biographer, Historian
A book is a gift you can open again and again.
—Garrison Keillor (b.1942) American Author, Humorist, Radio Personality
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist, Satirist, Short Story Writer, Author, Lecturer
One always tends to overpraise a long book, because one has got through it.
—E. M. Forster (1879–1970) English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist
What gunpowder did for war, the printing press has done for the mind; the statesman is no longer clad in the steel of special education, but every reading man is his judge.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Social Activist, Lawyer, Orator
If I read a book that impresses me, I have to take myself firmly in hand before I mix with other people; otherwise they would think my mind rather queer.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) German Holocaust Victim
All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality—the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape.
—A. C. Benson (1862–1925) English Essayist, Poet, Author
The great American novel has not only already been written, it has already been rejected.
—Frank Lane (1896–1981) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.
—Martin Farquhar Tupper (1810–89) English Poet, Writer
One learns little more about a man from his feats of literary memory than from the feats of his alimentary canal.
—Frank Moore Colby (1865–1925) American Educator, Writer
In a real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read. It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.
—S. I. Hayakawa (1906–92) Canadian-born American Academic, Elected Rep, Politician
From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover you have wings.
—Helen Hayes (1900–93) American Actor, Philanthropist
My Alma mater was books, a good library… I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.
—Malcolm X (1925–65) American Muslim Religious Leader, Human Rights Activist
Only a generation of readers will span a generation of writers.
—Steven Spielberg (b.1946) American Film Director, Screenwriter, Film Producer, Businessperson
In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.
—Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) American Philosopher, Educator, Author
Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.
—C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) Irish-born British Children’s Books Writer, Novelist, Academic, Literary Critic, Essayist, Theologian
There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.
—Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African Political leader, Head of State
The book which you read from a sense of duty, or because for any reason you must, does not commonly make friends with you. It may happen that it will yield you an unexpected delight, but this will be in its own uninterrupted way in spite of your good intentions.
—William Dean Howells (1837–1920) American Novelist, Short story Author, Editor
The only obligation to which in advance we may hold a novel, without incurring the accusation of being arbitrary, is that it be interesting.
—Henry James (1843–1916) American-born British Novelist, Writer
Literary imagination is an aesthetic object offered by a writer to a lover of books.
—Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) French Philosopher, Psychoanalyst, Poet
The books that everybody admires are those that nobody reads.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
It is the story-teller’s task to elicit sympathy and a measure of understanding for those who lie outside the boundaries of State approval.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
A losing trade, I assure you, sir: literature is a drug.
—George Borrow (1803–81) English Novelist, Author
Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.
—Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American Actor, Comedian, Singer
Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Protestant Clergyman, Social Reformer, Abolitionist
A person who publishes a book appears willfully in public with his pants down.
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) American Poet, Playwright, Feminist
Books and proverbs receive their chief value from the stamp and esteem of ages through which they have passed.
—William Temple
A bibliophile of little means is likely to suffer often. Books don’t slip from his hands but fly past him through the air, high as birds, high as prices.
—Pablo Neruda (1904–73) Chilean Poet, Diplomat, Political leader
No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.
—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) English Aristocrat, Poet, Novelist, Writer
I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
—Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American Actor, Comedian, Singer
Remarks are not literature.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer, Poet
Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher, Poet, Naturalist, Historian, Author
It is with the reading of books the same as with looking at pictures; one must, without doubt, without hesitations, with assurance, admire what is beautiful.
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
Who ever converses among old books will be hard to please among the new.
—William Temple
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.
—Charles William Eliot (1834–1926) American Educator, Academic
People do not deserve to have good writings; they are so pleased with the bad.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher, Lecturer, Essayist, Poet
A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.
—Italo Calvino (1923–85) Italian Journalist, Short Story Writer, Novelist, Essayist
A novel is never anything, but a philosophy put into images.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Books are a guide in youth, and an entertainment for age. They support us under solitude, and keep us from becoming a burden to ourselves. They help us to forget the crossness of men and things, compose our cares and our passions, and lay our disappointments asleep. When we are weary of the living, we may repair to the dead, who have nothing of peevishness, pride, or design in their conversation.
—Jeremy Collier (1650–1726) English Anglican Theater Critic, Theologian
There are very many people who read simply to prevent themselves from thinking.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Scientist, Critic, Writer
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine Writer, Essayist, Poet
The struggle of literature is in fact a struggle to escape from the confines of language; it stretches out from the utmost limits of what can be said; what stirs literature is the call and attraction of what is not in the dictionary.
—Italo Calvino (1923–85) Italian Journalist, Short Story Writer, Novelist, Essayist
A good book is always on tap; it may be decanted and drunk a hundred times, and it is still there for further imbibement.
—Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British Journalist, Writer, Publisher
Literature is the orchestration of platitudes.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
Reading is not a duty, and has consequently no business to be made disagreeable.
—Augustine Birrell (1850–1933) English Politician, Barrister, Academic, Author
What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist, Biographer, Poet, Writer, Literary Critic
It is from books that wise people derive consolation in the troubles of life.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Essayist
In literature the ambition of the novice is to acquire the literary language: the struggle of the adept is to get rid of it.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright, Critic, Political Activist, Educator
When a book raises your spirit, and inspires you with noble and manly thoughts, seek for no other test of its excellence. It is good, and made by a good workman.
—Jean de La Bruyere
The mortality of all inanimate things is terrible to me, but that of books most of all.
—William Dean Howells (1837–1920) American Novelist, Short story Author, Editor
To add a library to a house is to give that house a soul.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
If I had my way books would not be written in English, but in an exceedingly difficult secret language that only skilled professional readers and story-tellers could interpret. Then people like you would have to go to public halls and pay good prices to hear the professionals decode and read the books aloud for you. This plan would have the advantage of scaring off all amateur authors, retired politicians, country doctors and I-Married-a-Midget writers who would not have the patience to learn the secret language.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canada Journalist, Playwright, Academic, Critic, Novelist
One sheds one’s sicknesses in books—repeats and presents again one’s emotions, to be master of them.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.
—Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) American Philosopher, Educator, Author
Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else’s head instead of with one’s own.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
I had always imagined paradise as a kind of library.
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine Writer, Essayist, Poet
The newest books are those that never grow old.
—Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British Journalist, Writer, Publisher
Read as you taste fruit or savor wine, or enjoy friendship, love or life.
—Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British Journalist, Writer, Publisher
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.
—Harper Lee (1926–2006) American Novelist