"In the dark, with the windows lit and the rows of books glittering, the library is a closed space, a universe of self-serving rules that pretend to replace or translate those of the shapeless universe beyond."
"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."
"Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with tempting titles and tantalizing covers."
"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."
"Ultimately, the number of books always exceeds the space they are granted."
"But at night, when the library lamps are lit, the outside world disappears and nothing but the space of books remains in existence."