WIST Quotations

Miller, Henry -- The Books in My Life, ch. 1 (1952)

Dave — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 20:14:30 +0000

Books are one of the few things men cherish deeply. And the better the man, the more easily will he part with his most cherished possessions. A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. Like money, books must be kept in constant circulation. Lend and borrow to the maximum — of both books and money. But especially books, for books represent infinitely more than money.

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist
The Books in My Life, ch. 1 (1952)
(Source)

Alcott, Louisa May -- Work: A Story of Experience, ch. 2 (1873)

Dave — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 18:13:48 +0000

She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.

Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) American writer
Work: A Story of Experience, ch. 2 (1873)
(Source)

Wesley, John -- Letter to Joseph Benson (7 Nov 1768)

Dave — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 15:52:49 +0000

But beware you be not swallowed up in books: An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.

John Wesley (1703–1791) English cleric, Christian theologian and evangelist, founder of Methodism
Letter to Joseph Benson (7 Nov 1768)
(Source)

Lobel, Arnold -- The Fiction Magazine, Vol. 5 (1986)

Dave — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 23:47:59 +0000

Books to the ceiling, books to the sky.
My pile of books are a mile high.
How I love them!
How I need them!
I’ll have a long beard by the time I read them.

Arnold Lobel (1933–1987) American author, illustrator
The Fiction Magazine, Vol. 5 (1986)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Books,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Dave — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 02:17:14 +0000

Consider what you have in the smallest chosen library. A company of the wisest and wittiest men that could be picked out of all civil countries, in a thousand years, have set in best order the results of their learning and wisdom. The men themselves were hid and inaccessible, solitary, impatient of interruption, fenced by etiquette; but the thought which they did not uncover to their bosom friend is here written out in transparent words to us, the strangers of another age.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Books,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Davies, Robertson -- The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks (1985)

Dave — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 04:30:45 +0000

To be a book collector is to combine the worst characteristics of a dope-fiend with those of a miser.

Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks (1985)

Tabor, Mary B. W. -- “Book Notes,” New York Times (14 Jun 1995)

Dave — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 15:12:01 +0000

One sure window into a person’s soul is his reading list.

Mary B. W. Tabor (b. 1964) American journalist [Mary Britt Wellford Tabor]
“Book Notes,” New York Times (14 Jun 1995)
(Source)

Davies, Robertson -- Tempest-Tost, ch. 6 (1951)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Book lovers are thought by unbookish people to be gentle and unworldly, and perhaps a few of them are so. But there are others who will lie and scheme and steal to get books as wildly and unconscionably as the dope-taker in pursuit of his drug. They may not want the books to read immediately, or at all; they want them to possess, to range on their shelves, to have at command. They want books as a Turk is thought to want concubines — not to be hastily deflowered, but to be kept at their master’s call, and enjoyed more often in thought than in reality.

Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
Tempest-Tost, ch. 6 (1951)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1815-06-10) to John Adams

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I cannot live without books.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Letter (1815-06-10) to John Adams
(Source)