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Books and reading

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“when you go into a bookstore and you look at Judaica, for example, the majority of the books are either on Israel or the Holocaust. Those are the two main topics of books. And that’s a shame. Because there is this incredibly rich history. And also you should know what was destroyed and what was possible. I think that’s one of the things that the Bund did was to show what was possible.”
Irena Klepfisz (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In all my long life. ... I never expected that I would go to jail for books, and not even whole books but scraps and pieces, and if I return to my normal life of the last forty-seven years, of working and speaking on unionism, democratic rights, the rights of the Negro people and of women, on peace and against fascism and war, and on socialism, what happens then, Your Honor?”
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He had kept the university library as a reserve for the future. He had even taught the children to respect it. Yes, he had even, he was afraid, put a kind of taboo upon it. In fact, not only here but everywhere, he had always tried to impress the children with an almost mystical value of books. Still he kept the symbol of the burning of the books as one of the worst things that men could do.”
George R. Stewart (1895–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What would be the use of all these books now? Why worry about one of them? Why worry about all the millions of them? There was no one left, now, to carry on. Books themselves, mere wood pulp and lampblack, were nothing—without a mind to use them.”
George R. Stewart (1895–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Books can build bridges between worlds. When we travel across those bridges and walk in others’ shoes, our sense of empathy grows. Books are bridges that help us cross borders, bringing us closer together as human beings.”
Rudy Ruiz first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My San Antonio, October 21, 2022
“viii with the General Books and post-Rik literature agrees with Avestan as against the early family books.”
Edward Washburn Hopkins (1857–1932) said by 1932 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Books unite people and books in translation are the thresholds of other cultures, invitations to travel and to know others.”
Marjorie Agosín (1955–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So in the times when I didn't have a computer, there were books that he left. Books about what is a computer, parts of a computer, what is a ROM, what is a RAM. It's really basic.”
Susan Oguya (born 1987) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Susan Oguya said (The npr, december 24, 2012)
“Life is so funny. Ironic. I used to believe that my books would make me rich, but it looks like it might be the computer that produced my books that makes me rich.”
Odafe Atogun wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Scripture is not seen as primarily a written norm, but rather a consecration of the History of Salvation under the species of the human word. The content and unity of Scripture does not refer to the books of the Scriptures themselves but to the reality to which these books give testimony and witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Basil Myron Schott (1939–2010) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: - H.E. Most. Rev. Basil Myron SCHOTT, O.F.M., Metropolitan Archbishop of Pittsburgh of Byzantines, President of the Council of the Ruthene Church (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) (11 October 2008) Press Office of the Holy See
“I have chosen to place ... and ... side by side ... Both men were incredibly industrious., Osler's output running to 1,195 books and papers, as indicated in Maude Abbott's bibliography, ... while Choulant published sixty separate books (see Appendix IV); his journal contributions have never been counted or collected.”
John Farquhar Fulton (1899–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They have not even paid enough, because what we asked for, they are yet to pay the local governments. For me, I am not an accountant. The books are there. There is Freedom of Information Act. Anybody who needs information should go to the office of the Accountant General. You can’t hide the books any more. The system is very transparent.”
Ayo Fayose (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They borrow books they will not buy, They have no ethics or religions; I wish some kind Burbankian guy Could cross my books with homing pigeons!”
Carolyn Wells (1862–1942) first seen 1932 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Non-Returnable", in The Literary Digest, vol. 112, no. 9 (February 27, 1932) p. 26
“He translated the New Testament into Kinyarwanda, wrote the Missal books, and other liturgical books; he also wrote many essays, poems, and philosophical works”
Alexis Kagame (1912–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ifoto y’Urwibutso: Musenyeri Alexis Kagame; umwanditsi w’ikirenga mu mateka y’u Rwanda Igicumbi news (2020)
“I believe that books play a big role, especially books by Africans, in seeing representation, seeing yourself being written up in a positive light, seeing your existence reflected in the pages of literature”
Zulaikha Patel (born 2003) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My real name and my looks don’t have anything to do with my books. Vulnerably exposed in all my books is myself.”
Bob Ong (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Unamuno died broken-hearted on the last day of 1936. The tragedy of his last months was a natural expression of a society in which, by a law of September, all books of ‘Socialist or Communist tendencies had been ordered to be destroyed as a matter of public health’. In December all such books (or any ‘generally disruptive’ matter) were ordered to be handed in within forty-eight hours.”
Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton (1931–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a kid I missed seeing our Nigerian stories in books. 20 years later, when I was looking for books for my kids, I was shocked that the situation had hardly changed.”
Efua Traoré (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“After I graduated from the Zaria Middle School, I took up a public service appointment. I served as hide and skin inspector at Kano and I also worked as veterinary officer. Thereafter, I worked at some publishing companies as distribution assistant. Most of the books we dealt with then were Hausa books like Magana Jarice, Mabudin Kwara, Tafiya Mabudin Ilimi etcetera.”
Abubakar Ladan (died 2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wanted to be near books. I've always loved books.”
Ebenezer Obadare (born 1969) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Recalling his childhood fascination with reading and how it shaped his academic and journalistic career. How I Got My Career in Foreign Policy: Ebenezer Obadare, Council on Foreign Relations, 1 October 2025.
“While it’s true that, as a rule, I no longer feature specific titles for bilingual children’s books at this site (continuing to do so is beyond my capacity), I feel that Hennie has taken an inspired approach to the challenge of creating “bilingual books” and I want to share her work with you.”
Hennie Jacobs (born 1981) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Prayer-books and hymn-books, harmonium-dedications, pew constructions, surpliced choir, the white man’s style, the white man’s name, the white man’s dress, are so many non-essentials, so many props and crutches affecting the religious manhood of the Christian African.”
Mojola Agbebi (1860–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm usually very lucky in not having to bother about looking after the books; the books can look after themselves.”
Nuruddin Farah (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bear, Jr., James A., ed. Jefferson's Memorandum Books, 2 vols. (1997). Jefferson's account books with records of daily expenses.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) said by 1826 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is more ado to interpret interpretations than to interpret the things, and more books upon books than upon all other subjects; we do nothing but comment upon one another.”
Michael De Montaigne (1533–1592) said by 1592 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“The only excuse for a novelist, aside from the entertainment and vicarious living his books give the people who read them, is as a sort of second-class historian of the age he lives in. The "reality" he missed by writing about imaginary people, he gains by being able to build a reality more nearly out of his own factual experience than a plain historian or biographer can.”
John Dos Passos (1896–1970) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement of Belief," Bookman, Sept 1928
“I am a sensitive artist. Nobody understands me because I am so deep. In my work, I make allusions to books that nobody else has read, music that nobody else has heard, and art that nobody else has seen. I can't help it, because I am so much more intelligent and well-rounded than everyone who surrounds me.”
John S. Hall (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you tell certain people that you like Kerouac, they assume that’s all you read, like you don’t know anything else about literature. I recognize all the things that people dislike about the way he writes — his tone and the sentimentality of it all. But those books were there for me at a very important point in my life.”
Ben Gibbard (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“when I learned to read and write, I devoured books, and I thought that they were like trees, like animals, something that is born. I didn’t know there was an author behind it all. Eventually, I discovered that that’s how it was, and I said, “I want that, too.”
Clarice Lispector (1920–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But the old man had provided his kids with one priceless gift: He’d encouraged them to read, and he didn’t bother too much about the content, subscribing to the theory that good books ultimately speak for themselves.”
Jack McDevitt (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We read Dover Books, because you can steal from them. The medieval imagery and iconography is so good for the imagination. Trying to describe the world, trying to describe the cosmos, trying to put it down in neat orderly fashion, unlike reality. And it always seems to stick in one's mind more than reality does.”
Terry Gilliam (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Other books we may read and criticise. To the Scriptures we must bow the entire soul, with all its faculties.”
Edward Norris Kirk (1802–1874) said by 1874 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“after having had contact with students for so many years, I think it's a lot harder to change somebody's life than people think. People will say they've been changed, but what they really mean is they read something which crystallized an awful lot of things they were already feeling. I don't think books really change people's minds very often; I think that's awfully rare.”
Joanna Russ (1937–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it fall, does it make a sound or not? Hector had read a lot of books by then, he knew all the tricks and arguments of the philosophers. If someone makes a movie and no one sees it, does the movie exist or not?”
Paul Auster (1947–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is perfect in the same way that The Great Gatsby is perfect. Take a pencil and read these books, looking for something that doesn't sound right, something you'd want to change. You'll leave the page untouched.”
William McKeen (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Because I was stupid, I said, To hell with it, and I joined a drama school. [It was a ridiculously little school, which was first run by a very clever woman, but she soon was replaced by] "a nitwit, who had read a few books on the Actor's Studio and was very much into analysis, instead of teaching us how to walk and talk!”
Donald O'Brien (actor) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is evident that to read too many books is harmful.”
Mao Zedong (1893–1976) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks At The Spring Festival", (February 13, 1964).
“My books I'd fain cast off, I cannot read, 'Twixt every page my thoughts go stray at large Down in the meadow, where is richer feed, And will not mind to hit their proper targe.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) first seen 1842 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Summer Rain", st. 1. The Dial (October 1842) p. 224
“Books, like conversation, rarely give us any precise ideas: nothing is so common as to read and converse unprofitably. We must here repeat what Locke has so strongly urged—Define your terms.”
Voltaire (1694–1778) first seen 1764 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abuse of Words" (1764)
“There are people who read too much: the bibliobibuli. I know some who are constantly drunk on books, as other men are drunk on whiskey or religion. They wander through this most diverting and stimulating of worlds in a haze, seeing nothing and hearing nothing.”
H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) said by 1956 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let's face it, if there were 10 people like me in the world, we wouldn't have time to read each other's books.”
Donald Knuth (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have found that our great philosophers and our great men of action are optimists. So, too, our most potent men of letters have been optimists in their books and in their lives. No pessimist ever won an audience commensurately wide with his genius, and many optimistic writers have been read and admired out of all measure to their talents, simply because they wrote of the sunlit side of life.”
Helen Keller (1880–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many books require no thought from those who read them, and for a very simple reason; they made no such demand upon those who wrote them.”
Charles Caleb Colton (1777–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wants to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.”
E. M. Forster (1879–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What can you ever really know of other people's souls — of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him. You cannot put Him off with speculations about your next door neighbours or memories of what you have read in books.”
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's enough for you to do it once for a few men to remember you. But if you do it year after year, then many people remember you and they tell it to their children, and their children and grandchildren remember and, if it concerns books, they can read them. And if it's good enough, it will last as long as there are human beings.”
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Portrait of Mr. Papa" by Malcolm Cowley in LIFE magazine (10 January 1949)
“The best books are those, which those who read them believe they themselves could have written.”
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) said by 1662 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“... the second time I ever saw you I learned what I had read in books but I had never actually believed: that love and suffering are the same thing and that the sum of love is what you have to pay for it and any time you get it cheap you have cheated yourself.”
William Faulkner (1897–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the dime stores and bus stations, People talk of situations, Read books repeat quotations, Draw conclusions on the wall.”
Bob Dylan (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It took the Church until 1832 to remove Galileo's work from its list of books which Catholics were forbidden to read at the risk of dire punishment of their immortal souls.”
Carl Sagan (1934–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source