Books Quotes by Henry Miller

“All I ask of life, he says, is a bunch of books, a bunch of dreams, and a bunch of cunt.”

— Henry Miller

Leave out the parts that readers tend to skip.

— Henry Miller

I read to be taken out of myself, to become ecstatic.

— Henry Miller

All my good reading, you might say, was done in the toilet.

— Henry Miller

A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition.

— Henry Miller

Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.

— Henry Miller

What is not in the open street is false, derived, that is to say, literature.

— Henry Miller

Whatever I do is done out of sheer joy; I drop my fruits like a ripe tree. What the general reader or…

— Henry Miller

A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. Like money, books must be kept in constant circulation. Lend and borrow…

— Henry Miller

“A book is not only a friend, it makes friends for you. When you have possessed a book with mind and spirit,…

— Henry Miller

“This is not a book, in the ordinary sense of the word. No, this is a prolonged insult, a gob of spit…

— Henry Miller

Until it is kindled by a spirit as flamingly alive as the one which gave it birth a book is dead to…

— Henry Miller

“Yeah, I picked up a book and I read. You can get something out of a book, even a bad book ...…

— Henry Miller

There is only one thing which interests me vitally now, and that is the recording of all that which is omitted in…

— Henry Miller

“I used to think then that all the tragic events of life were written down in books and that what went on…

— Henry Miller

“It’s hard to know, when you’re in such a jam, which is worse—not having a place to sleep or not having a…

— Henry Miller

“A man, when he's burning up with passion, wants to see things; he wants to see everything, even how they make water.…

— Henry Miller

Men are not suffering from the lack of good literature, good art, good theatre, good music, but from that which has made…

— Henry Miller

“this book has begun to grow inside me. I am carrying it around with me everywhere. I walk through the streets big…

— Henry Miller

A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. Like money, books must be kept in constant circulation... A book is…

— Henry Miller

My understanding of the meaning of a book is that the book itself disappears from sight, that it is chewed alive, digested…

— Henry Miller

She may be lying in bed reading a book, she may be making love with a prize fighter, or she may be…

— Henry Miller

“This is not a book. This is libel, slander, defamation of character. This is not a book, in the ordinary sense of…

— Henry Miller

“This is not a book. This is libel, slander, defamation of character. This is not a book, in the ordinary sense of…

— Henry Miller

The best stories I have heard were pointless, the best books those whose plot I can never remember, the best individuals those…

— Henry Miller

“The vast body of literature, in every domain, is composed of hand-me-down ideas. The question — never resolved, alas! — is to…

— Henry Miller

“A man should begin with his own times. He should become acquainted first of all with the world in which he is…

— Henry Miller

With this book in my hands, reading aloud to my friends, questioning them, explaining to them, I was made clearly to understand…

— Henry Miller

“One of the results of this self-examination — for that is what the writing of this book amounts to — is the…

— Henry Miller

“Perhaps my grandfather was right, perhaps I was spoiled in the bud by the books I read. But it is ages since…

— Henry Miller

“I like the monologue even more than the duet, when it is good. It's like watching a man write a book expressly…

— Henry Miller

“The great ones do not set up offices, charge fees, give lectures, or write books. Wisdom is silent, and the most effective…

— Henry Miller

“Even if I could write the book I want to write nobody would take it - I know my compatriots only too…

— Henry Miller

“The principal aim underlying this work is to render homage where homage is due, a task which I know beforehand is impossible…

— Henry Miller

“I suppose it was the worst book any man has ever written. It was a colossal tome and faulty from start to…

— Henry Miller

“Side by side with the human race there runs another race of beings, the inhuman ones, the race of artists who, goaded…

— Henry Miller

“In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the…

— Henry Miller

And the books you write. They're not you. They're not me sitting here, this Henry Miller. They belong to someone else. It's…

— Henry Miller

My books are the books that I am, the confused man, the negligent man, the reckless man, the lusty, obscene, boisterous, scrupulous,…

— Henry Miller

This is not a book in the ordinary sense of the word. No, this is a prolonged insult, a gob of spit…

— Henry Miller