Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature, dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. The are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world, and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print.

Barbara W. Tuchman (1912-1989) American historian and author

“The Book,” Lecture, Library of Congress (1979-10-17)
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Reprinted in Authors' League Bulletin (1979-11/12) and as "Papyrus to Paperbacks: The World That Books Made," Washington Post (1979-12-30).