Quotes About Reading

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. FRANCIS BACON, "OF STUDIES

There are some people who read too much: the bibliobibuli. I know some who are constantly drunk on books, as other men are drunk on whiskey or religion. They wander through this most diverting and stimulating of worlds in a haze, seeing nothing and hearing nothing.

Last week, for the first time, I read Herman Melville's ''Moby Dick.'' It really amazed me by its badness.

The chief knowledge that a man gets from reading books is the knowledge that very few of them are worth reading.

Was tempted to quote Walden—"Why should I feel lonely? Is not our planet in the Milky Way?"—but refrained. How can I get lonely, I asked, when there's still so much to read?

I sometimes write stories. I sometimes read them. Thank you. Stories in general—not yours.

And because mere walls and windows must soon drive to madness a man who dreams and reads much

32."I started reading this book about anti-gravity. It is so good. It is impossible to put down!

I'd rather read than relax. I'd rather keep the mind engaged.

He tried to read, but the words swam in front of his eyes in meaningless waves. He put on the television. Nick at Nite, the cultural equivalent of aerosol cheese.

You read me," Myron said, "like Vasco da Gama reads a map." Dimonte

True," Adam said. "But I can read numbers, Bob. Logan's overall score was a six-point-seven. Jimmy only has a score of six-point-four. Even with today's new math, six-point-seven is greater than six-point-four. I can show you with a graph if that would help." Gaston

I watch a lot of bad TV. I spend my entire day reading and writing, and after dinner my idea of fun is just to watch a lot of bad TV. That's how I relax and stay in touch with modern culture.

Every year, I have my graduate students read the great works of history, from classical times to the present. They gamely tackle Tacitus, ponder Plutarch, plow through Gibbon. Then they get to Thomas Carlyle and feel like Dorothy when she touched down in Technicolor Oz.

In third grade, my teacher asked me to read in front of the class. I was so touched because that really was the first acting I had ever done, just reading in front of the class. And I was so amazed with the fulfillment I got from being in front of people.

I'm a remedial reading student from Ohio who grew up to write pieces on my mom and dad in the 'New York Times.' They were really touched by that - something they never saw coming.

I definitely rediscovered reading for pleasure by devoting such a large swath of my time to sitting on airplanes. I am now painfully adept at removing my shoes so as to have the least amount of foot surface area touching an airport floor.

For every SF reader of that period, Robert A. Heinlein was also a touchstone.

I always say it's a shame picture books get such a bad rep. Illustrations are tough to sell older kids on!

Having big audiences when you're on a book tour is like Valhalla if you're a person who used to sell Girl Scout cookies on the side. Because you want to give the reading that will sell the most books.

I'm in the middle of a 25-city book tour, and I like watching what people buy in bookstores. I see people buy books that I strongly suspect they will never read, and as an author, I must tell you, I don't mind this one bit. We buy books aspirationally.

I used to buy scented poetry books on tour and read aloud to the band. Not what you'd expect, huh?

I read the newspaper online. Mostly 'The New York Times.' I'll still buy papers if I'm getting on an airplane or the tour bus, though. I like physical things.