---
title: "1 Personal Library Quotes By Michael Dirda"
description: "1 Personal Library quotes by Michael Dirda. Plus more from Michael Dirda and more Personal Library sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/faa/michael-dirda-3414_desire_a-personal-library-is-a-reflection-of-wh_829210.png"
---

> [A personal library is a reflection of who you are and who you want to be, of what you value and what you desire, of how much you know and how much more you'd like to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/a-personal-library-is-a-reflection-of-who-you-are-and-who-you-want-to/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/faa/michael-dirda-3414_desire_a-personal-library-is-a-reflection-of-wh_829210.png)

## More by Michael Dirda

> [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [I sometimes lie awake at night and try to imagine what would be the best period in history to spend one's seventy-odd years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-sometimes-lie-awake-at-night-and-try-to-imagine-what-would-be-the/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [To my mind, 'Dear Brutus' stands halfway between Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's 'Into the Woods'. Like them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/to-my-mind-dear-brutus-stands-halfway-between-shakespeare-s-a/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [The goal of a just society should be to provide satisfying work with a living wage to all its citizens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/the-goal-of-a-just-society-should-be-to-provide-satisfying-work-with/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [Most lyric poetry is about love, whether yearned after, fulfilled, or wistfully regretted; what isn't tends to consist of laments and cris du coeur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/most-lyric-poetry-is-about-love-whether-yearned-after-fulfilled-or/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [“Books, by their very nature and variety, help us grow in empathy for others, in tolerance and awareness. But they should increase our skepticism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-help-us-grow-in-empathy-for/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [My gift, if that's not too grandiose a term, is one for describing novels, biographies, and works of history in such a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/my-gift-if-that-s-not-too-grandiose-a-term-is-one-for-describing/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [Once we know the plot and its surprises, we can appreciate a book's artistry without the usual confusion and sap flow of emotion, content…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/once-we-know-the-plot-and-its-surprises-we-can-appreciate-a-book-s/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [My wife tells me I should check out 'Downton Abbey', but I gather that series might be almost too intense for my temperate nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/my-wife-tells-me-i-should-check-out-downton-abbey-but-i-gather-that/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [A reviewer's lot is not always an easy one. I can remember flogging myself to finish Harold Brodkey's 'The Runaway Soul' despite the novel's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/a-reviewer-s-lot-is-not-always-an-easy-one-i-can-remember-flogging/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [I once read that in vaudeville, it was often the straight guy who got paid more than the comic because that's the tougher job.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-once-read-that-in-vaudeville-it-was-often-the-straight-guy-who-got/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [From the late 19th to the early 20th century, the December issue of almost any general-interest magazine regularly featured a holiday horror or two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/from-the-late-19th-to-the-early-20th-century-the-december-issue-of/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [Neither my mom nor my dad ever bought me any comic books. Certainly not for Christmas. I suspect that doing so would have violated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/neither-my-mom-nor-my-dad-ever-bought-me-any-comic-books-certainly/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [For me, the two weeks between Christmas and Twelfth Night have come to be reserved for desultory reading. The pressure of the holiday is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/for-me-the-two-weeks-between-christmas-and-twelfth-night-have-come-to/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

> [I've always liked an easygoing, colloquial style. I like the kind of reviewer who is essentially a fellow reader, an enthusiast, a fan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-ve-always-liked-an-easygoing-colloquial-style-i-like-the-kind-of/)

[Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/)

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