The great inconvenience of new books is that they prevent us from reading the old ones.
[C’est le grand inconvénient des livres nouveaux: ils nous empêchent de lire les anciens.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 18 “Du Siècle [On the Age],” ¶ 57 (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983), 1808]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
The great drawback in new books is that they prevent our reading older ones.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 250]
That is the great drawback of new books: they keep us from reading the old.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 17]
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