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Books and reading

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“Bless him”—the Messiah raises a shiny copy of the New Apocalypse Edition of the Book of Frick—“for leaving us this miraculous book, this new edition of his Holy Word, available for only nineteen ninety-nine at Church of America megastores worldwide.”
Katie Coyle (born 1985) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My early research focused on questions of orality and literacy, an area that inevitably lead to scholarship on the early modern world and from there to the field of book history and print culture. I then began teaching a course on South African book history, edited a special issue of the South African Historical Journal on this theme and also began supervising graduates working on these themes.”
Isabel Hofmeyr (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The image of the book is a self-image. You open a book and it is about you, not always about other people.”
Efua Sutherland (1924–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My mother had this book lying around our house in the 1980s called “The Big Book of Jewish Humor.” I remember looking through it as a kid and understanding that Jewish people had their own inside jokes, and this fact alone somehow made me feel that Jewish people were their own club, a tribe, with an inside and an outside.”
Danzy Senna (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is a book about Africa in which I have tried to avoid most of the foolishness, personal heroism, and general exaggeration which usually attend works of this sort. It is a book important only to the writer and has no sociological significance whatsoever.”
Robert Ruark (1915–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(About the book of Simone Weil entitled The Need for Roots) Of course, one cannot expect the formal perfection of other writings, but that is simply because “it is a book,” whereas the natural expression of tragic consciousness, such as Weil's, is the aphoristic form.”
Augusto Del Noce (1910–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Simone Weil, interprete del mondo di oggi, pp. 29-30, n Simone Weil, L'amore di Dio, Borla, Roma, 2010. ISBN 978-88-263-0004-7
“I wanted it to be a math activity book, so I wrote bios about the women and made up activities to go with their math — fun activities that don’t need a teacher to teach it to you first. It’s a book that students can just pick up and do without a teacher, maybe while riding in the car to grandma’s house.”
Shelly M. Jones (born 1964) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dr. Shelly Jones makes math culturally relevant November 20, 2020
“Our book is different from other guidebooks in that it isn't a guidebook for a place. It's a resource book on how to travel. For example, we've got ideas for what to do while waiting for the bus.**]”
Ashley Steel (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It’s very difficult to adapt a book into a film, especially a fictional book where I have the freedom to do whatever I want to do with the characters.”
Dudu Busani-Dube (born 1981) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Three years later, people still love the Hlomu books” - Dudu Busani-Dube 4 October, 2017
“It takes guts, patience and a lot of hard work. I think anyone who is passionate about writing and wants to own and be in control of their creativity can do it. I used my own money to publish, which was risky because I wasn’t sure how well my book was going to do. It took a while before the money I made from book sales was actual profit. But I’m at a great place now”
Dudu Busani-Dube (born 1981) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: What does it take to succeed as a self-published book author in South Africa? 6 February, 2020
“The second book is always a challenge because of the reception the first book received”
Niq Mhlongo (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let us understand one easy implication of this. The claim that the “Greek” proof of the “Pythagorean theorem” in the “Euclid” book is “superior” to its Indian proof is complete balderdash, though lots of “reliable sources” have asserted it. The actual “Euclid” book uses the same principles of proof as the Indian notion of proof, but is only a lot more prolix.”
C. K. Raju (born 1954) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: California, Indian Calculus and the Technology Race, 2021
“This book should be studied at the High School of the Judiciary (referring to the book entitled ‘'Il mostro’' by Matteo Renzi).”
Carlo Nordio (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Old people shouldn’t watch television. TV is a window onto a world that is slipping away, and they know it. They see places they can no longer go, women they can no longer love, and adventures they will no longer have time to experience. Give an old person a book and switch off their TV. But not a book that makes them dream too much. Fantasy is a painful flight for those who no longer have wings.”
Giancarlo Magalli (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[On his nickname 'Samurai' and the katana found in his home] It's ridiculous. If only I were the Samurai from the book Suburra. Which Netflix is now even making a series about. The katana they gave me, and which they seized. when they arrested me, was given to me as a joke after the book came out. It wasn't a real samurai sword. It was used for filleting tuna.”
Massimo Carminati (born 1958) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The passages collected in this book have been "quotations" for well over a thousand years. Many of them exist only because they were "quoted," the works from which they are taken having been lost. In the case of the most celebrated poets whose works survive in toto or nearly so, a collection of passages which have never been quoted during the last two millennia would make a very slim book indeed.”
Norbert Guterman (1900–1984) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Book of Latin Quotations (1966), introduction, p. vi
“Nigeria can begin to overcome book piracy by ensuring that piracy is painful for the pirates. Right now, the theft of intellectual property is perceived as a victimless crime. There is nothing like a fake book.”
Eghosa Imasuen (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“but the book is Open Door Romance. Anybody who's listening who wants open door romance, I just wanna be clear, this is an open door romance book. Just this one scene is not, 'cause it occurs so early.”
Lindsay Barrett (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My book portrays a vast humanity living on the edge of Cape Town. My book portrays a vast humanity living on the edge of Cape Town.”
David Lurie (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is the book that will show you the right person in your life. It’s the book that will give you peace.”
Peter Shalulile (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“G. B. Stern, in her delightful book Monogram (which for my money, contains about everything a book needs), tells of her rage, about three years ago, at learning that there were no such animals as unicorns.”
Gladys Bronwyn Stern (1890–1973) first seen 1903 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Robert Benchley, After 1903–What? (1938)
“As good almost kill a man as kill a good book: who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself.”
John Milton (1608–1674) said by 1674 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“'T is pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print; A book 's a book, although there 's nothing in 't.”
Lord Byron (1788–1824) said by 1824 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“My outlook on warfare is best illustrated by a cartoon I did some thirty-odd years ago of a soldier in an Italian foxhole reading about the Normandy invasion and observing to his buddy that: "The hell this ain't the most important hole in the world. I'm in it.”
Bill Mauldin (1921–2003) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mud & Guts : A Look at the Common Soldier of the American Revolution (1978) Foreword
“I'm really serious about this writing thing. What time I haven't been writing, I've been reading: Thomas Wolfe, if you know who he is. His writing is mostly built about the central character of a writer, himself. Altho it's fiction, it deals with his life and experiences. In my opinion, little as it's worth, he is the greatest writer that has lived, Shakespeare included. He is a genius.”
James Jones (1921–1977) first seen 1941 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his brother Jeff, from Hawaii (7 April 1941); p. 11
“It is a most important work to go about and stir up the churches; but it requires much grace, much self-denial, much saying over the same things, and the greatest watchfulness and faithfulness, in making use of one's time for prayer, meditation, and reading the Scriptures.”
George Müller (1805–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reading changed dreams into life and life into dreams.”
Mario Vargas Llosa (1936–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was just reading some poetry, and it talked about how things start as one thing and change into another, and I just thought, what a great concept for a song.”
Tommy Lee (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is possible that the malice of writers has been overrated (by myself among others). Reading their ruminations on their craft, one sees why this writer could not possibly like that one, would indeed consider him a menace. Literature is a battleground of conflicting faiths, and nobler passions than envy are involved.”
Wilfrid Sheed (1930–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reading literature can greatly enhance the study of science. If science is all one focuses, the mind will grow very mechanical. We are only fully human when we possess not only intelligence but also emotion and sensitivity. Literature is the oil that greases the wheels of the mind.”
Daisaku Ikeda (1928–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Margarine? That’s not food. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter? I can. If you’re planning on using margarine in anything, you can stop reading now, because I won’t be able to help you.”
Anthony Bourdain (1956–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I sat reading in these chairs and felt somehow, in an abstract rather than a religious way, that suffering shapes you. Not only my own religious thought, but that of my ancestors, affected me in some way. The thing we have as Jews is that it’s a wonderfully abstract religion. Images are not allowed, so it’s welcome to abstract thought.”
Murray Perahia (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you listen to my albums, it's like reading my diary.”
Taylor Swift (born 1989) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hirschberg, Lynn (23 November 2009). "Little Miss Sunshine". The New York Times.
“In reading authors, when you find Bright passages that strike your mind, And which perhaps you may have reason To think on at another season, Be not contented with the sight, But take them down in black and white; Such a respect is wisely shown That makes another's sense one's own.”
John Byrom (1692–1763) said by 1763 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your lips are red My face is red from reading your red lips”
St. Vincent (musician) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You could spend a lifetime reading in here.”
Peter Greenaway (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I realised fairly early that the 'wisdom of the ages' - whether from 3000 years ago or yesterday - often was simply and perfectly adaptable to the context of the football arena, and immensely valuable. From my regular morning habit of reading, I would write down any wise, pragmatic and smart quotes and ideas that struck me, and that I felt could be of use in coaching.”
Jack Gibson (1929–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hate violent images in the movies. Since I think in pictures, it is difficult to get these images out of my memory. I do not want this bad stuff in my memory. Reading about violence does not upset me, it is seeing it. Cartoon violence and car crashes have no effect. The images I want to avoid are realistic depictions of torture and cruelty.”
Temple Grandin (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Among those today who believe that modern poetry must do without rhyme or metre, there is an assumption that the alternative to free verse is a crash course in villanelles, sestinas and other such fixed forms. But most...are rare in English poetry. Few poets have written a villanelle worth reading, or indeed regret not having done so.”
James Fenton (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God damn X-Entertainment. God damn it for being so god damn interesting that I'd rather sit reading their god damn articles when I should be doing some god damn work. God damn them. God damn the doctor for putting me on these god damn pills that make me god damn drowsy and fucked up all god damn morning. God damn everything. Then god damn god damning. (18 August 2004)”
Ben Croshaw (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Anyway, if anyone reading this hasn't seen the Dark Knight yet, you officially aren't allowed on the internet until you rectify that. I think I should give it a few months and maybe watch it again on DVD before giving a definitive opinion, because being a massive cynic I'm immediately suspicious of any film that appears on the surface to be absolutely fucking legendary. (19 July 2008)”
Ben Croshaw (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's nothing I enjoy more than sitting down with a big piece of marmite on toast and reading through the archives of a good webcomic. The only problem is that the good webcomics are all hidden behind pile upon pile of testicle sweat masquerading as entertainment. (The Only Good Comics on the Internet)”
Ben Croshaw (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hey, mister professional game critic, have you ever heard of this obscure game called 'Deus Ex'?" This is why I hate reading my email. (12 September 2010)”
Ben Croshaw (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I really think that reading is just as important as writing when you're trying to be a writer. Because it's the only apprenticeship we have. It's the only way of learning how to write a story.”
John Green (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reading someone else's newspaper is like sleeping with someone else's wife. Nothing seems to be precisely in the right place, and when you find what you are looking for, it is not clear then how to respond to it.”
Malcolm Bradbury (1932–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen. Thank you for reading.”
Louis C.K. (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His great novel The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) has certainly enlarged my life – an unusual experience for a life which is well on in its eighties. Reading and rereading it has made me realize how many ways there are of being alive, how many doors there are, close to one, which someone else's touch may open.”
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: E. M. Forster, Introduction to Lampedusa's Two Stories and a Memory (New York: Pantheon, 1962) p. 13.
“[The Alaska Constitution is] my bible in governing. I try to keep it so simple by reading the thing and believing in it and living it. It's providential. Some of the crafters of the Constitution are still alive. They're my mentors, my advisers. I get to meet with these folks and ask, "What did you mean by this?" And it makes so much sense.”
Sarah Palin (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In post offices throughout the United States, Selective Service posters [reading "A Man's Gotta Do What A Man's Gotta Do] remind men that only they must register for the draft. If the Post Office had a poster saying "A Jew's Gotta Do What A Jew's Gotta Do..." or if "A Woman's Gotta Do..." were written across the body of a pregnant woman...”
Warren Farrell (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Worldwide, boys are 50 percent more likely than girls to fail to meet basic proficiency in any of the three core subjects of reading, math, and science.”
Warren Farrell (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source