WIST Quotations

Thoreau, Henry David -- Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 3 “Reading” (1854)

Dave — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:45:14 +0000

Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage. They have no cause of their own to plead, but while they enlighten and sustain the reader his common sense will not refuse them. Their authors are a natural and irresistible aristocracy in every society, and, more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 3 “Reading” (1854)
(Source)

Voltaire -- Letter (1733-06-20) to a First Commissioner [Lettre á un premier commis] [tr. Tallentyre (1919)]

Dave — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:33:46 +0000

Had there been a literary censorship in Rome, we should have had to-day neither Horace, Juvenal, nor the philosophical works of Cicero. If Milton, Dryden, Pope, and Locke had not been free, England would have had neither poets nor philosophers; there is something positively Turkish in proscribing printing; and hampering it is proscription.

[S’il y avait eu une inquisition littéraire à Rome, nous n’aurions aujourd’hui ni Horace, ni Juvénal, ni les œuvres philosophiques de Cicéron. Si Milton, Dryden, Pope, et Locke, n’avaient pas été libres l’Angleterre n’aurait eu ni des poètes, ni des philosophes: il y a je ne sais quoi de turc à proscrire l’imprimerie, et c’est la proscrire que la trop gêner.]

Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
Letter (1733-06-20) to a First Commissioner [Lettre á un premier commis] [tr. Tallentyre (1919)]
(Source)

(Source (French))

Steele, Richard -- Essay (1713-04-09), The Guardian, No. 25

Dave — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:26:21 +0000

The prevailing humour of crying up authors that have writ in the days of our forefathers, and of passing slightly over the merit of our contemporaries, is a grievance that men of a free and unprejudiced thought have complained of through all ages in their writings.

Richard Steele (1672–1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Essay (1713-04-09), The Guardian, No. 25
(Source)

Johnson, Samuel -- Essay (1759-06-02), The Idler, No. 59

Dave — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:51:54 +0000

Of many writers who filled their age with wonder, and whose names we find celebrated in the books of their contemporaries, the works are now no longer to be seen, or are seen only amidst the lumber of libraries which are seldom visited, where they lie only to show the deceitfulness of hope, and the uncertainty of honour.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1759-06-02), The Idler, No. 59
(Source)

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 21:49:00 +0000

Everybody can write; writers can’t do anything else.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)
(Source)

Stevens, Wallace -- Opus Posthumous, “Adagia” (1957)

Dave — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 17:24:41 +0000

Authors are actors, books are theaters.

Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) American poet
Opus Posthumous, “Adagia” (1957)
(Source)

Davies, Robertson -- “Mehitabel,” Toronto Daily Star (21 Nov 1959)

Dave — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 16:42:00 +0000

Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.

Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
“Mehitabel,” Toronto Daily Star (21 Nov 1959)

Reprinted in The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies (1990).

Descartes, René -- Discourse on Method [Discours de la méthode], Part 1 (1637) [tr. Cottingham, Stoothoff (1985)]

Dave — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 17:33:23 +0000

Reading good books is like having a conversation with the most distinguished men of past ages — indeed, a rehearsed conversation in which these authors reveal to us only the best of their thoughts.

[Que la lecture de tous les bons livres est comme une conversation avec les plus honnêtes gens des siècles passés, qui en ont été les auteurs, et même une conversation étudiée en laquelle ils ne nous découvrent que les meilleures de leurs pensées.]

René Descartes (1596–1650) French philosopher, mathematician
Discourse on Method [Discours de la méthode], Part 1 (1637) [tr. Cottingham, Stoothoff (1985)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:

The reading of good books, is like the conversation with the honestest persons of the past age, who were the Authors of them, and even a studied conversation, wherein they discover to us the best only of their thoughts.
[tr. Newcombe ed. (1649)]

The perusal of all excellent books is, as it were, to interview with the noblest men of past ages, who have written them, and even a studied interview, in which are discovered to us only their choicest thoughts.
[tr. Veitch (1901)]

I was aware that the reading of all good books is indeed like a conversation with the noblest men of past centuries who were the authors of them, nay a carefully studied conversation, in which they reveal to us none but the best of their thoughts.
[tr. Haldane, Ross (1911)]

The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest men of past ages, who are their authors, and even a studied conversation in which they unfold to us only the best of their thoughts.
[tr. Kennington (1964-76)]

The reading of good books is like a conversation with the best men of past centuries -- in fact like a prepared conversation, in which they reveal only the best of their thought.
[tr. Ascombe, Geach (1971)]

The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest men of past centuries.
[Common translation, unsourced]

Channing, William E. -- “Self Culture,” lecture, Boston (Sep 1838)

Dave — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 15:57:21 +0000

It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds, and these invaluable means of communication are in the reach of all. In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours.

William E. Channing (1780–1842) American moralist, author, cleric, Unitarian theologian
“Self Culture,” lecture, Boston (Sep 1838)

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, Preface (1820)

Dave — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:58:27 +0000

We should have a glorious conflagration if all who cannot put fire into their works would only consent to put their works into the fire.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780–1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, Preface (1820)
(Source)

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-06-18), The Spectator, No. 94

Dave — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:10:02 +0000

Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors.

Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-18), The Spectator, No. 94
(Source)