Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,159,190 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Books and reading
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“Some savage faculty for observation told him that most respectable and estimable people usually had a lot of books in their houses.”
Brian O'Nolan (1911–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life is too short to live with any but the greatest books.”
Leo Strauss (1899–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) first seen 1788 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Alexander Donald (7 February 1788)
“I have often thought that nothing would do more extensive good at small expense than the establishment of a small circulating library in every county, to consist of a few well-chosen books, to be lent to the people of the country under regulations as would secure their safe return in due time.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) first seen 1809 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to John Wyche (19 May 1809)
“I cannot live without books.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) first seen 1815 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to John Adams (10 June 1815)
“The law books abound with similar instances of the care the judges take of the public integrity, Laws, moreover, abridging the natural right of the citizen, should be restrained by rigorous constructions within their narrowest limits.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) said by 1826 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“..I felt angry when I learnt that a great artist like Mani Madhava Chakyar was awarded a mere Padma Shri. A man of his artistic genius and erudition deserved to be decorated with the highest state honour (Bharat Ratna)” - RKG (Editor, The Illustrated Weekly, Columnist for Times of India), 2000RKG, India : A Nation in Turmoil, Vedam Books, New Delhi (2000), , p. 256”
Mani Madhava Chakyar (1899–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Self-help books are making life downright unsafe. Women desperate to catch a man practice all the ploys recommended by these authors. Bump into him, trip over him, knock him down, spill something on him, scald him, but meet him.”
Florence King (1936–2016) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Does Your Child Taste Salty?", in Reflections in a Jaundiced Eye (1989)
“Government must provide the hardware - classrooms, desks, chairs, and the software - books, teacher retraining.”
Francis Escudero (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was really into sci-fi books as a kid. My dad is a physicist and he used to take my brothers and I into his lab when we were little. We played games with liquid nitrogen and Van de Graaff generators. He had the keys to the observatory at St Andrew's University and he'd get us up in the middle of the night to show us Halley's Comet. That's partly why the album is called Eye To The Telescope.”
KT Tunstall (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Past sins, if you repent of them, whiten you. They made a great psalmist out of David, a faithful believer out of the prostitute Rahab, a zealous apostle out of the persecutor Saul. I have been a loved preacher and writer with a particular vocation. My sermons and books would not have had the same quality without my past of anarchy, vice, and violent atheism.”
Richard Wurmbrand (1909–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Naturally I don't believe books and I don't believe teachers, but I do believe-it's important for me to believe you [Gene]. Christ, I've got to believe you, at least. I know you better than anybody.”
John Knowles (1926–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you go home with someone and they don't have books, don't fuck them.”
John Waters (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was not possible for him to visit his library as often as he wished, for the calls made upon him by the endless ceremonials which were his exacting duty to perform robbed him for many hours each day of his only pleasure—books.”
Mervyn Peake (1911–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If Nature did not take delight in blood, She would have made more easy ways to good. We that are bound by vows and by promotion, With pomp of holy sacrifice and rites, To teach belief in good and still devotion, To preach of heaven's wonders and delights — Yet, when each of us in his own heart looks, He finds the God there far unlike his books.”
Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (1554–1628) said by 1628 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We possess, in the sacred and secret books of India, of which we know only an infinitesimal part, a cosmogony which no European conception has ever surpassed.”
Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maurice Maeterlinck, in Mountain Paths (1919)
“Tarzan of the Apes lived on in his wild, jungle existence with little change for several years, only that he grew stronger and wiser, and learned from his books more and more of the strange worlds which lay somewhere outside his primeval forest.”
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tarzan of the Apes, young and savage beast of the jungle, wondered at the cruel brutality of his own kind. Sheeta, the leopard, alone of all the jungle folk, tortured his prey. The ethics of all the others meted a quick and merciful death to their victims. Tarzan had learned from his books but scattered fragments of the ways of human beings.”
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Einstein said that it is theory which decides what is . I think he was right—'observation' is a complicated and theory-laden business. Then that notion should not appear in the formulation of fundamental theory. Information? Whose information? Information about what? On this list of bad words from good books, the worst of all is 'measurement'. It must have a section to itself.”
John Stewart Bell (1928–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not sure I'd want to pick the brain of any author. Some writers have a lot to say about what they write and why they write it. Others don't. I've met a lot of writers who have an awful lot to say in the bar, but whose books seem curiously empty.”
Michael Marshall Smith (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It would be a narrow conception of jurisprudence to confine the notion of 'laws' to what is found written on the statute books, and to disregard the gloss which life has written upon it.”
Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. v. Browning, 310 U.S. 362, 369 (1940).
“Ten hostages is terrorism; A million, and it's strategy. To ban books is fanaticism; To threaten in totality All culture and all civilization, All humankind and all creation, This is a task of decorous skill And needs high statesmanship and will.”
Vikram Seth (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The books that I have written are sent out with no claim for their acceptance. They may, or may not, be correct, true and useful. It is for you to ascertain their truth by right practice and by the exercise of the intuition. Neither I nor A.A.B. is the least interested in having them acclaimed as inspired writings...”
Alice Bailey (1880–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have always preferred maps to books. They don't answer you back.”
David Mitchell (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Books, which we mistake for consolation, only add depth to our sorrow.”
Orhan Pamuk (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Particularly when I speak at schools, people in the audience want to know whether there are going to be films of my books. Myself, I'm more jaundiced. I've seen what can happen when text-based science fiction gets zombified by Hollywood. Look at what happened to Gibson's "Johnny Mnemonic”
Nalo Hopkinson (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are those who fear that if books get published according to some kind of identity-based quota system, literary excellence will suffer. What seems to be buried in the shallow grave of that concept is the assumption that there are no good writers in marginalized communities.”
Nalo Hopkinson (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar-school; and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used; and, contrary to the king, his crown, and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) said by 1616 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pandikattu, K. (2012). LIFE: Relish It! . Better Yourself Books, St. Paul, Mumbai.”
Kuruvilla Pandikattu (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I suppose, as a politician, I should be content, for the Canada Pension Plan certainly put my name in Canada's history books, and in italics.”
Judy LaMarsh (1924–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The unexpressed aim of every politician is to influence events that history books will record his name - and spell it right.”
Judy LaMarsh (1924–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Lewis is among the great American journalists of the past half century. His coverage of legal issues for The New York Times, where he was a columnist for 32 years, along with his best-selling books (including "Gideon's Trumpet"), have made him one of the most popular commentators on American law.”
Anthony Lewis (1927–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Inspiration comes from many places — experiences, places, people, books, and the work of other artists. As a writer, it is important to keep one’s senses open to the world around and then trying to capture those impressions to a page. Writing is sort of a game or puzzle to me — playing with words and concepts to present something new to listeners.”
Dawud Wharnsby (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Popper's skepticism about scientific truth in The Logic of Scientific Discovery is] that kind of reaction, of which the epitome is given in Aesop's fable of the fox and the grapes. The parallel would be complete if the fox, having become convinced that neither he nor anyone else could ever succeed in tasting grapes, should nevertheless write many long books on the progress of viticulture.”
David Stove (1927–1994) first seen 1982 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Popper and After: Four Modern Irrationalists, Oxford: Pergamon, 1982. Page 52.
“Willingham, waiting in the batters box, Wagner ready, the 1–0 pitch, swing and fly ball to left, Floyd under it, he's there, put it in the books, The New York Mets have won the 2006 National League Eastern Division Championship and the party is under way.”
Howie Rose (born 1954) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Calling the 2006 National League East Clincher.
“Swing and a fly ball to right, Green under it.....in foul ground..makes the catch!...Put it in the books!..The Mets are gonna play for the pennant!”
Howie Rose (born 1954) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Calling the 2006 NLDS clincher.
“Ground ball to Gotay, throws on to first... Put it in the history books!...Tom Glavine has won his 300th game.”
Howie Rose (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Images are books for the illiterate and silent heralds of the honor of the saints, teaching those who see with a soundless voice and sanctifying the sight.”
John of Damascus (675–749) said by 749 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Defense against those who attack the holy images," as translated by Andrew Louth, Three Treatises on the Divine Images, (Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Press: 2003) p. 46
“A lot of my measures were embraced in other bills. I don't want to be (like) Kennedy, Rostenkowski … (and) put bad legislation on the books.”
Jimmy Quillen (1916–2003) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A league of their own: Study uses baseball's famous statistics to rate lawmakers' 'hitting percentages". Orlando Sentinel, as republished in the Kingsport Times-News (Tennessee). Sunday, 1993-10-10.
“Nature is the armory of genius. Cities serve it poorly; books and colleges at second-hand; the eye craves the spectacle of the horizon, of mountain, ocean, river and plain, the clouds and stars: actual contact with the elements, sympathy with the seasons as these rise and fall.”
Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888) said by 1888 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I thought I would be safe here.” “You are.” For the first time, he touched her, touched her hand. “Safe from everything but paper and ink. Please. Put those down.” “Paper and ink.” She clutched the books to her ample chest. “They’re not nothing, Alec. They’re pretty much everything to me: the embodiment of ideas, of thought—of free and open thought. Of inquiry and supposition. All of it.”
Ellen Kushner (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These ten commandments come to us as a Divine Revelation, as a document signed by God Himself [-] But these books contain a higher wisdom besides. Not the wisdom of the street corners, nor the wisdom of the learned schools, but the conduct which God requires of us”
Michael von Faulhaber (1869–1952) said by 1952 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No one who was not by nature a lover of logic, and an extreme precisian in the use of words and phrases, could have written the two "Alice" books.”
Stuart Dodgson Collingwood (1870–1937) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Lewis Carroll Picture Book (1899) p. 3.
“Booksellers are the most valuable destination for the lonely, given the numbers of books that were written because authors couldn't find anyone to talk to.”
Alain de Botton (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The association of books with their readers is unlike any other between objects and their users.”
Alberto Manguel (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I know that something dies when i give up my books, and that my memory keeps going back to them with mournful nostalgia.”
Alberto Manguel (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Possessing these books has become all important to me, because I have become jealous of the past.”
Alberto Manguel (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My name became a brand, and I'd love to say that was the plan from the start. But the only plan was to keep writing books.”
John Grisham (born 1955) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview, Guardian, Friday 25 November 2011
“How can we linger over books to which their authors have manifestly not been driven? ... the freakish anomalies of Blue of Noon originated entirely in an anguish to which I was prey.”
Georges Bataille (1897–1962) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Appendix: The Author’s Foreword [1957]
“Books serve us simply by opening a window on all we wanted to say and feel and think about. We may not even notice that they have not said it themselves till we go back to them years later and do not find what we loved in them. You cannot keep the view by taking the window with you.”
James Richardson (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source