Quotes About Reading

Had she been asked if reading had enriched her life she would have had to say yes, undoubtedly, though adding with equal certainty that it had at the same time drained her life of all purpose.

To read is to withdraw. To make oneself unavailable. One would feel easier about it', said Sir Kevin, 'if the pursuit itself were less … selfish.

Proust's is a long book, though, water- skiing permitting, you could get through it in the summer recess

Stava anche scoprendo che un libro tira l'altro; ovunque si voltava si aprivano nuove porte e le giornate erano troppo corte per leggere quanto avrebbe voluto. Ma era dispiaciuta, e anche mortificata, al pensiero di tutte le occasioni che si era lasciata sfuggire.

Reading was not doing… and as old as she was, she was still a doer.

She had always been good at duty until she started reading.

Pass the time?' said the Queen. 'Books are not about passing the time. They're about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, Sir Kevin, one just wishes one had more of it. If one wanted to pass the time one could go to New Zealand.

Libraries have to be local, they have to be handy. They shouldn't need an expedition. But that early period in a child's reading life is vital. Interfere with that, hinder a child's access to books in whatever form and you damage that child probably for life. I have said it many times already but it's worth saying again: closing libraries is child abuse. Enough ranting.

Books did not defer. All readers were equal and this took her back to the beginning of her life. As a girl, one of her greatest thrills had been on VE night when she and her sister had slipped out of the gates and mingled unrecognised with the crowds. There was something of that, she felt, to reading. It was anonymous; it was shared; it was common. And she who had led a life apart now found that she craved it. Here in these pages and between these covers she could go unrecognised.

Audiences shouldn't be homogenous before one even starts; it's the performance, even of a reading, that should weld them into a unit.

I think the need for reading boils down to one simple issue: children are selfish. Reading about other people creates a sense of balance in a child's life. It gives them the knowledge that there is a world outside themselves. It tells them that the language they are learning at home is the key to unlocking the mysteries of the greater world.

Ma qualcuno l'avrà pure ragguagliata, Maestà?. Certamente, disse la regina ma ragguagliare non è leggere. Anzi, è l'esatto contrario. Il ragguaglio è succinto, concreto e pertinente. La lettura è disordinata, dispersiva e sempre invitante. Il ragguaglio esaurisce la questione, la lettura la apre.

On cherche dans un livre la confirmation de ses propres convictions.

Leggere vuol dire sottrarsi. Rendersi irreperibili. Sarebbe già diverso» disse Sir Kevin «se come passatempo fosse meno… egoistico». «Egoistico?». «Forse dovrei dire solipsistico». «E allora lo dica». Al che Sir Kevin si lanciò. «Se potessimo veicolare le sue letture per uno scopo più ampio: acculturare il paese, ad esempio, per promuovere la lettura fra i giovani.

Books are wonderful, aren't they? … At the risk of sounding like a piece of steak, they tenderize one. … he concurred again, but had no notion what she was on about.

Forse, disse a Norman, leggo perché sento di dover indagare la natura degli esseri umani.

If reading softens one up, writing does the reverse. You have to be tough, do you not?

The appeal of reading, she thought, lay in its indifference; there was something undeferring about literature. Books did not care who was reading them or whether one read them or not. All readers are equal, herself included. Literature, she thought, is a commonwealth; letters a republic. . . [reading] was anonymous; it was shared; it was common. Here in these pages and between these covers she could go unrecognised. (from The Uncommon Reader, pg 30-31)

Passar o tempo? - disse a Rainha. - Os livros não são para passar o tempo. São sobre outras vidas. Outros mundos. Longe de querer que o tempo passe, sir Kevin, quem nos dera ter mais. Se quiséssemos passar o tempo, íamos à Nova Zelândia.

A book is a device to ignite the imagination

It was almost a side-effect that this caused me to educate myself to a degree which was beyond anything a school could hope to achieve. My own appetite for knowledge and reading and connection had led me, and that is how education works, not by spoon-feeding, but by stimulating the appetite so that children cannot wait to feed themselves.

Briefing is terse, factual and to the point. Reading is untidy, discursive and perpetually inviting. Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it up.

The appeal of reading, she thought, lay in its indifference: there was something lofty about literature. Books did not care who was reading them or whether one read them or not. All readers were equal, herself included. Literature, she thought, is a commonwealth; letters a republic.

Good books shouldn't be hidden away. They should be read by as many people as many times as possible.