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Books and reading

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“I quickly learned that reading is cumulative and proceeds by geometric progression: each new reading builds upon whatever the reader has read before.”
Alberto Manguel (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is one way, and only one, of correctly reading a Latin hexameter. There may be three or four ways of reading an English blank verse line. I venture to say that no two mortals ever read aloud any given long passage of verse with precisely the same rhythms.”
John Livingston Lowes (1867–1945) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conventions and Revolt in Poetry (1919)
“I think it’s important. Just reading the entries for my workshop—sometimes it’s very sad to see that people don’t know very much about their own writers. I’m reading the entries now—it’s depressing. I know people in Nigeria who say, “I don’t read Nigerian fiction”—and they say it with prid”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[If] you read the news once a week, I promise you, you'll be as informed as somebody who's reading it every single day. You know why? 'Cause when you're reading it every day, you are caught in the cycle of it trying to discover what it doesn't know yet.”
Trevor Noah (born 1984) first seen 2024 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with The Diary of a CEO - Trevor Noah: My Depression Was Linked To ADHD! Why I Left The Daily Show! (17 October 2024)
“I will be reading the poetry and I will read it aloud because I will be, you know, whispering the poetry, because poetry, I really believe, has to do with a sense of communicating and the idea of reading the poem, giving life to the poem, is important, and so the old tradition is very important.”
Francisco X. Alarcón (1954–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nonreaders. Especially Nonreaders of Color. Which I didn’t even realize until so many of them started contacting me. I write for them because I think it’s important to read, and yet I also understand that when you’ve never really seen yourself if the type of stuff you’re assigned, reading seems kinda wack [sic]. So I wanna hook the reluctants and get them started reading for enjoyment.…”
Nic Stone (born 1985) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On her audience in “2018 Morris Award Finalists: An Interview with Nic Stone” in The Hub (2018 Feb 7)
“Is this a book exhausted from too much reading? Or too little reading?”
Peter Greenaway (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Real understanding of a thing comes from taking it apart oneself, not reading about it in a book or hearing about it in a classroom. To this day I always insist on working out a problem from the beginning without reading up on it first, a habit that sometimes gets me into trouble but just as often helps me see things my predecessors have missed.”
Robert B. Laughlin (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've also grown weary of reading about clouds in a book. Doesn't this piss you off? You're reading a nice story, and suddenly the writer has to stop and describe the clouds. Who cares? [...] I'm not interested. Skip the clouds and get to the fucking. The only story I know of where clouds are important was Noah's Ark! (12)”
George Carlin (1937–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What sense of superiority it gives one to escape reading some book which every one else is reading.”
Alice James (1848–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Alice James, Her Brothers — Her Journal (1934).
“[F]olks would better off dipping their heads in a bucket of liquid [nitrogen] and battering them against a tree very very hard than reading Baxter's Titan. It would not surprise me if reading that book causes birth defects.”
James Nicoll (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And how often do we meet the man who prefaces his remarks with: "I was reading a book last night..." in the too loud, overenunciated fashion of one who might be saying: "I keep a hippogryph in my basement." Reading confers status.”
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your initial reading of the book is preparation, in order to get the overall shape and mood, to map the plot, and especially to find the voices of the characters. To do that, like a lot of narrators, I visualise them (often using various character actors from the TV or the movies) to give me a mental cue when reading . Unlike a lot of narrators, I rarely mark up my scripts.”
Simon Prebble (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I was a kid, when I was reading a book, my parents might ask me what I was reading.”
Kerry Gibson wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can only learn so much by reading. You cannot learn to ride a bicycle by reading a book.”
Robert Kiyosaki (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes books are valuable. But not reading of books will take the place of a daily, candid, honest examination of what one has recently done, and what one is about to do - of a steady looking at one's self in the face (disconcerting though the sight may be).”
Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) said by 1931 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As we begin a national conversation on our reading, writing and engagement with books, it seems fitting to provoke a discussion about the reasons we think books (and their authors) are important”
Ellah Wakatama Allfrey (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was lucky. God blessed me with a great opportunity to learn. I lived in a house filled with books, and so reading and the love for books became rooted in me.”
Fayza Haikal (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The right is taking books out of schools. Who cares, dude? That’s a states’ rights thing. That is between the parents and the school. Why do you care what books a kid in another state is reading?”
Whitney Cummings (born 1982) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Charlie Kirk Ruminations | Good For You Podcast with Whitney Cummings | EP 307, Sep 21, 2025
“I want you to read the true system of the heart, drafted by a decent man and published under another name. I do not want you to be biased against good and useful books merely because a man unworthy of reading them has the audacity to call himself the Author.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) said by 1778 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Do not suppose, however, that I intend to urge a diet of classics on anybody. I have seen such diets at work. I have known people who have actually read all, or almost all, the guaranteed Hundred Best Books. God save us from reading nothing but the best.”
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The PATRIOT Act allows Federal agents to look at public and university library patron circulation records, books checked out, magazines consulted, all subject to government scrutiny.There used to be a time in this country when we were worried whether our young people knew how to read. Now some in our government are more worried that government agents be able to find out what people are reading.”
Dennis Kucinich (born 1946) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech from the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressional Record (15 June 2005) .
“Karl Marx wrote something like that in thick books that the Ch[h]ettris have not read because reading is not what the Ch[h]ettris do. Ch[h]ettris do statecraft.”
Manjushree Thapa (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I read all these books and I had the feeling that just reading things is not enough. I also wanted to create my own stuff, to create something new.”
Caucher Birkar (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have some hobbies like knitting, hand embroidery, tapestry, and reading books and comics. I love cooking, and I create recipes. I have been a kitchen geek since childhood. I read and learn about cuisine from all parts of Nigeria and beyond, and attempt to recreate them.”
Abimbola Abolarinwa (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I loved the books I read as a child and I knew I definitely wanted to do this. But it was tougher than I thought. I took to reading a whole lot, and just falling and stumbling until it began to look beautiful. The ‘dibia’ is a long road of tedious work.”
Frances Ogamba wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The library will impact the reading habit of the children and urged parents to encourage their children to read good books, instead of playing games on mobile phones .”
Dakoa Newman (born 1985) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How did childhood influencce my career according to my family, I have always been a very Interesting child who was always open to express herself and I think my creativity or sense of creativity started as a child where I will open books and started doing image reading. I will look at a particular imagine and read and make a whole scenario around it.”
Mariama Colley (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh yes! I love discussing current affairs with friends, as well as blogging on the books I read. So this is me, a woman of diverse reading taste and talents.”
Margaret Safo (1957–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(What kinds of books bring you the most reading pleasure these days?) NK: Novels that arrive at their coherence in unusual and elegant ways. That stretch form only to satisfy the book’s mysterious inner command. I love when I feel that both the author and I are surprised at where we find ourselves.”
Nicole Krauss (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I write short stories. They may appear big in size, but when you consider it, they're four or five novels in one. … In return for picking up one of my books, I'm trying to give them value for their money. … the goal of writing any book is to create the illusion that what you are reading is reality and you're part of it.”
James Clavell (1921–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“…I had a lot of different reasons for writing the book but at its core was the desire to write for black teenage girls growing up reading books they were absent from. That was my experience as a child. Children of Blood and Bone is a chance to address that. To say you are seen.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On her primary motivation to write Children of Blood and Bone in “Tomi Adeyemi: ‘We need a black girl fantasy book every month’” in The Guardian (2018 Mar 10)
“We live in a world where you could go for the rest of your life never reading a book — after school. And that to me is a sad fate ... because books hold so much.”
Meg Wolitzer (born 1959) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (interview February 8, 2016, quote at 3:53 of 4:44)
“I had a girl tell me I had an excellent book selection and she was 7 or 8. I don’t know how welcome she might feel in some other spaces,Women exist in this space! We’ve always been reading comic books, we just may not have been as open about it. I definitely get very positive feedback from not just little girls, but grown women too.”
Ariell Johnson (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My love for reading and awe for books. They inspired me to imagine a world on my own terms as early as age eight. This soon transcended beyond just writing for myself into telling African stories that children everywhere could find themselves in and use to fly away into their own world. I am very grateful to be able to help increase the diversity of African children’s literature a book at a time.”
Portia Dery (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Books are “imaginative rehearsals for living,” stated novelist George Santayana. They are also a great equalizer in a diverse society. Book reading helps prepare a child for mental liberation from ignorance, fear, and falsehood.”
George Santayana (misattributed) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The lockdown’s lesson in reading books aloud, Christian Science Monitor (22 June 2020)
“I would really like to slow down the speed of reading with continual punctuation marks. For I would like to be read slowly. (As I myself read.)”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A friend came over to the house a few days ago and read one of my poems. He came back today and asked to read the same poem over again. After he finished reading it, he said, "It makes me want to write poetry.”
Richard Brautigan (1935–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's good to know how to read, but it's dangerous to know how to read and not how to interpret what you're reading." Ebony September 1995.”
Mike Tyson (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more then his reading. He was wont to say that if he had read as much as other men, he should have knowne no more than other men.”
John Aubrey (1626–1697) said by 1697 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We read to understand, or to begin to understand. We cannot do but to read. Reading almost as much as breathing, is our essential function.”
Alberto Manguel (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Internet has been accused of making us shallow. We’re skimming, not reading. We lack the ability to engage deeply with a subject anymore. That’s both true and not true: we skim and browse certain types of content, and read others carefully. Oftentimes, we’ll save a long form journalism article and read it later offline, perhaps on the train home from work.”
Kenneth Goldsmith (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Jiggs loved playing his old Victrola in the early evening and often asked Ty to sit with him and listen. The music wasn't always what Ty was exactly interested in, but he listened to please his grandfather. ...Accidentally he found out that reading was allowed while listening to great music. His grandparents had read to him regularly and insisted that Ty read some of the classics.”
Max Evans (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Blanca argued that her reading should be monitored because there were certain things that were inappropriate for her age, but her Uncle Jaime felt that people never read what did not interest them and that if it interested them that meant they were sufficiently mature to read it. (p311)”
Isabel Allende (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There’s a problem when you write for Hollywood in particular, they only read the dialogue. They call it reading down the middle. They have 10 scripts to read over the weekend, so all the bits that are in block prose, they won’t look at. But that’s the important stuff in the cinema. A cinematic script… they always say that you can watch a good film with the sound down.”
Mark Burton (writer) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Richard Starzak & Mark Burton interview: Shaun The Sheep (February 5, 2015)
“It is astonishing that now a whole generation has grown up reading Indian literature in English. Nothing was being read when I was a student. We read no Indian writers at all.”
Anita Desai (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I read the poems quickly, drinking them up, gulping them down, as if to get drunk. Poetry recharges my batteries. When I am rushing to finish a novel, I read poets like Lope de Vega, Jorge Guillén, Quevedo, Sor Juana, almost without reading them. They nourish my ear.”
Carmen Boullosa (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If our governments and all stakeholders work hard at it, if our governments to concrete steps to reduce the need for the materialistic struggles which consume all our time, energy and leisure, reading culture will be cultivated slowly and steadily. What is not read today may be read tomorrow.”
Sam Ukala (1948–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The tragedy is that they remain, unread by the people. Or better, there is a double tragedy – they will not be read until their works become ‘orally’ accessible, and the people will not read until conditions that make reading possible prevail in their lifetime (p.171).”
Ari Sitas (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We often hear that Ivorians don’t read, but if they don’t read, who are those people standing in front of newspaper stands every morning reading the titles? They are called titrologues”
Edwige-Renée Dro wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source