Quotes from Richard de Bury

All the glory of the world would be buried in oblivion, unless God had provided mortals with the remedy of books.

A library of wisdom, then, is more precious than all wealth, and all things that are desirable cannot be compared to it.

Books are masters who instruct us without rods or ferules, without words or anger, without bread or money. If you approach them, they are not asleep; If you seek them, they do not hide; If you blunder, they do not scold; if you are ignorant, they do not laugh at you.

In books I meet the dead as if they were alive in books I see what is yet to come... All things decay and pass in time... All fame would fall into oblivion if God had not given mortal men the book to aid them

Books appear to be the most immediate instruments of speculative delight.

Again, all who are smitten with the love of books think cheaply of the world and wealth; as Jerome says to Vigilantius: The same man cannot love both gold and books.

A dire il vero, quei laici che guardano un libro piegandolo a rovescio, come se fosse quello il suo verso normale, sono indegni di avere contatti con libri di qualsiasi genere.

Come insegna Seneca ammaestrando i suoi discepoli, l'ozio senza le lettere è la morte e la tomba dell'uomo mentre ancora vive; così, per la ragione opposta, ne deduciamo che la frequentazione delle lettere e dei libri è per l'uomo la vita.