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Quotes about reading

116 quotes from 88 people

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I am not well read, but when I do read, I read well.
KCKurt Cobain1967–1994Journals (2002)
- Comedy
From my early reading of Faery Tales, & Genii &c &c — my mind had been habituated to the Vast — & I never regarded my senses in any way as the criteria of my belief.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge1772–1834Letter to Thomas Poole (16 October 1797); ed. Griggs (1956), vol. 1, p. 354
Such a book as Robinson Crusoe never was written, and never will be written again. I have tried that book for years⁠—generally in combination with a pipe of tobacco⁠—and I have found it my friend in need in all the necessities of this mortal life. When my spirits are bad⁠—Robinson Crusoe. When I want advice⁠—Robinson Crusoe.
Wilkie Collins1824–1889The Moonstone (1868), First Period: The Loss of the Diamond (1848), Chapter IIn context
- Comedy
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.
CCCharles Caleb Colton1777–1832Lacon (1820), Volume 2, Vol. II; CCXLVIII
- Writing
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 Davies1913–1995
I sit with Shakespeare and he winces not. Across the color-line I move arm in arm with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men and welcoming women glide in gilded halls. From out the caves of the evening that swing between the strong-limbed earth and the tracery of the stars, I summon Aristotle and Aurelius and what soul I will, and they come all graciously with no scorn nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the Veil.
W. E. B. Du Bois1868–1963The Souls of Black Folk (1903), Ch. VI: “Of the Training of Black Men”In context
- Race
People who read only the classics are sure to remain up-to-date.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach1830–1916Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 24.
Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry. When we consider a book, we mustn’t ask ourselves what it says but what it means…
Umberto Eco1932–2016The Name of the Rose (1980), William of Baskerville
Our high respect for a well read person is praise enough for literature.
T. S. Eliot1888–1965
Never read any book that is not a year old.
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882Society and Solitude (1870), Books
In the highest civilization, the book is still the highest delight. He who has once known its satisfactions is provided with a resource against calamity.
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882Letters and Social Aims (1876), Quotation and Originality
‘Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakenly meant for his ear.
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882Society and Solitude (1870), Success
I should as soon think of swimming across Charles River when I wish to go to Boston, as of reading all my books in originals when I have them rendered for me in my mother tongue.
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882Society and Solitude (1870), Books
Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.
Erasmus1466–1536Letter to Christian Northoff (1497), as translated in Collected Works of Erasmus (1974), p. 115
- Education
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. Forster1879–1970Commonplace Book (1985), p. 11