You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.
The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.
... a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.
Books are a uniquely portable magic.
I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited.
Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry.
Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.
A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.
A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.
Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.
In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.
Sleep is good, he said, and books are better.
Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. What I wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life.
Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.
When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.
You get a little moody sometimes but I think that's because you like to read. People that like to read are always a little fucked up.
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.
Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.
Books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal.
