We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.
—B. F. Skinner (1904–90) American Psychologist, Social Philosopher, Inventor, Author
A single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month’s study of books.
—Chinese Proverb
Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Beware of a man of one book.
—English Proverb
Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Knowledge without wisdom is a load of books on the back of an ass.
—Japanese Proverb
If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.
—Toni Morrison (1931–2019) American Novelist, Editor, Academic
Teachers die, but books live on.
—Dutch Proverb
Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Only your friends steal your books.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Every book must be chewed to get out its juice.
—Chinese Proverb
It is better to be entirely without a book than to believe it entirely.
—Chinese Proverb
A wise man without a book is like a workman with no tools.
—Moroccan Proverb
Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
If a book is really good, it deserves to be read again, and if it’s great, it should be read at least three times.
—Anatole Broyard (1920–90) American Literary Critic
Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
A classic is a book which people praise and don’t read.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
A good book praises itself.
—German Proverb
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.
—Irish Proverb
Every age has its book.
—Arabic Proverb
Books open your mind, broaden your mind, and strengthen you as nothing else can.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
There’s no thief like a bad book.
—Italian Proverb
A pack of cards is the devil’s prayer book.
—German Proverb
Master books, but do not let them master you.—Read to live, not live to read.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Don’t judge a book by its cover.
—English Proverb
A man is happy when he has books, but happier still when he does not need them.
—Chinese Proverb
Scholars talk books, butchers talk pigs.
—Chinese Proverb
Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. They are engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in the sea of time.
—Edwin Percy Whipple (1819–86) American Literary Critic
A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
—Arabic Proverb
There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a tired man who wants a book to read.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
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