If every library is in some sense a reflection of its reader... - Alberto Manguel, The Library at Night
"If every library is in some sense a reflection of its readers, it is also an image of that which we are not, and cannot be."
"If every library is in some sense a reflection of its readers, it is also an image of that which we are not, and cannot be."
"I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have unlimited patience. They will wait for me till the end of my days."
"Our society accepts the book as a given, but the act of reading -- once considered useful and important, as well as potentially dangerous and subversive -- is now condescendingly accepted as a pastime, a slow pastime that lacks efficiency and does not contribute to the common good."
"But at night, when the library lamps are lit, the outside world disappears and nothing but the space of books remains in existence."
"One book calls to another unexpectedly, creating alliances across different cultures and centuries."
"I like to imagine that, on the day after my last, my library and I will crumble together, so that even when I am no more I'll still be with my books."