books

"Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all."

"I love to lose myself in other men's minds.... Books think for me."

"The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours."

"You have to remember that it is impossible to commit a crime while reading a book."

"Reading is my favourite occupation, when I have leisure for it and books to read."

"And books, they offer one hope -- that a whole universe might open up from between the covers, and falling into that universe, one is saved."

"There is something wonderful about a book. We can pick it up. We can heft it. We can read it. We can set it down. We can think of what we have read. It does something for us. We can share great minds, great actions, and great undertakings in the pages of a book."

"Books are the most wonderful friends in the world. When you meet them and pick them up, they are always ready to give you a few ideas. When you put them down, they never get mad; when you take them up again, they seem to enrich you all the more."

"A good book is an event in my life."

"I cannot live without books."

"There are few sights sadder than a ruined book."

"Nothing ever invented provides such sustenance, such infinite reward for time spent, as a good book."

"When you read to a child, when you put a book in a child's hands, you are bringing that child news of the infinitely varied nature of life. You are an awakener."

"I don't want anyone writing in to point out that I spend too much money on books, many of which I will never read. I know that already. I certainly intend to read all of them, more or less. My intentions are good. Anyway, it's my money. And I'll bet you do it too."

"Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?"

"I can talk to fish!"Angel said happily, water dripping off her long, skinny body. "Ask one over for dinner,"Fang said, joining us."

"It did occur to me that the effect of good literature may be as dizzying as that of alcohol."

"With no reason to hide these words I feel, and no reason to talk about the books I read, but still, I do."

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

"I had already found that it was not good to be alone, and so made companionship with what there was around me, sometimes with the universe and sometimes with my own insignificant self; but my books were always my friends, let fail all else."