Books Quotes · Page 427

There isn't, even now, a great tradition of novel-writing in Afghanistan. Most of the literature is in the form of poetry.

— Khaled Hosseini

“Our sanctification is more like a Weight Watchers program than listening to a book on tape.”

— James K.A. Smith

I wanted to achieve something because I thought that we should not just be born and live, so I started writing books.

— Chef Damu

Most states in the union where the death penalty is theoretically on the books don't have executions.

— Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Books connect us readers to what we cannot see but imagine, an intangible sort of wonder and magic.”

— Stephanie Morales

I came out of the womb reading books and thinking about my next project. I'm a born nerd.

— Rashida Jones

I recognize limitations in the sense that I've read Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky and Shakespeare . . . Aside from that I don't…

— Francoise Sagan

Anyone can repeat a technical explanation they read in a text-book or blog post.

— Albert Einstein

“Though the immediate impression of rebellion may obscure the fact, the task of authentic literature is nevertheless only conceivable in terms of…

— Georges Bataille

“My prayer as you read this book is that you will find comfort for the disappointment of unanswered prayer, but also courage…

— Jerry Sittser

“One of my delights in these books, on the other hand, has been to include movies not often cited as “great”—some because…

— Roger Ebert

The critic interested in a novel manifestation holds his criteria and taste in reserve. Since they were formed upon yesterday's art, he…

— Leo Steinberg

“I go on writing in both respectable and despised genres because I respect them all, rejoice in their differences, and reject only…

— Ursula K. Le Guin

My intention is always to honor the character that Lev [Grossman] created in the books and my greatest concern, honestly, is that…

— Hale Appleman

This is a landmark work in the history of African American studies and American intellectual history. Writing with verve, Jackson brings to…

— Werner Sollors

The fact that we don't read more books in America can be traced squarely to the fact that we have newspapers that…

— Bennett Cerf

I tell myself it does not matter what one reads-favorite authors, particular themes-as long as we read something. It is not even…

— Helen Simonson

“When I first opened this book and saw all those scholarly footnotes, my heart leapt up as though I saw a host…

— Steven Moore

A life of writing books is a trying adventure in which you cannot find out where you are unless you lose your…

— Philip Roth

You can read about it all you want, but there is no substitute for just doing it.

— Richard Morris

I have a strong opinion that a genuine love of books is one of the greatest blessings of life for man and…

— Sara Coleridge

“Do not dictate to your author; try to become him. Be his fellow-worker and accomplice.”

— Virginia Woolf

I keep hearing from readers who say 'Hoax' helps them understand their own family a little bit better.

— Brian Stelter

My family put a lot of emphasis on homework, so there weren't too many comic books or video games for me, when…

— Wentworth Miller

“Why does everyone think a girl who prefers books to people must be in want of a life?”

— Lauren Morrill

Writing a story is kind of like surfing, as opposed to the novel, where you use a GPS to get somewhere. With…

— Etgar Keret

During the last years of Mayakovski's life, when all poetry had ceased to exist . . . literature had stopped.

— Boris Pasternak

Books can be a source of solace, but I see them mainly as a source of pleasure, personal as well as esthetic.

— Michael Dirda

“To speak truth, reader, there is no excellent beauty, no accomplished grace, no refinement, without strength as excellent, as complete, as trustworthy.”

— Charlotte Brontë

There comes a point, in literary objectivity, when the author's self- effacement is hard to distinguish from moral cowardice.

— Edward Abbey

Mack Bolan is a classic American hero. Readers like him and I feel very good about that.

— Don Pendleton

Sometimes if a script is based on a book, that's what you should do: represent the book.

— Jennifer Lawrence

I hadn't been a particularly precocious reader, but everybody else in my family was.

— Tom Rachman

“My dear Lady Kroesig, I have only read one book in my life, and that is ‘White Fang.’ It’s so frightfully good…

— Nancy Mitford

I don't really collect books. I tend to lose interest in them the minute I've read them, so most of the books…

— Malcolm Gladwell

I didn't want any degrees if all the ill-read literates and radio announcers and pedagogical dummies I knew had them by the…

— Anonymous

Grade school ruined reading for me by demanding book reports for such snore-a-thons as Benjamin Franklin's biography written for children.

— John Waters

This is going to take a while. I'm a fantasy author. We have trouble with the concept of brevity.

— Brandon Sanderson

Gentlemen use books as Gentlewomen handle their flowers, who in the morning stick them in their heads, and at night strawe them…

— John Lyly

It's such a thrill when an adult comes up to me and says, 'I read your book as a child and really…

— Katherine Paterson