--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We should read other people's books in…" description: "\"We should read other people's books in order to learn what we feel; it is our own thoughts we should be developing, even if it is another writer's thou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/alain-de-botton-221_book_we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-o_651028.jpg" --- # We should read other people's books in order to learn what… ![“We should read other people's books in order to learn what we feel; it is our own thoughts we should be developing, even if it is another writer's thought that help us to do so.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/alain-de-botton-221_book_we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-o_651028.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/alain-de-botton-221_book_we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-o_651028.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/alain-de-botton-221_book_we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-o_651028.jpg) > “We should read other people's books in order to learn what we feel; it is our own thoughts we should be developing, even if it is another writer's thought that help us to do so.” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading others' works helps us discover our own feelings, using external ideas to develop personal thought. **In simple terms:** Read others to develop your own thoughts. Key Takeaway Use external ideas to refine personal insight. Themes learning self-development reflection literature Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - book clubs - academic study - personal journaling - creative writing Key Concepts critical thinking empathy intellectual growth Questions to Reflect On - Which ideas have reshaped your worldview? - How do you balance external influence with personal voice? A Different Perspective Relying too much on others may dilute originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I wish I could close my eyes and be blown into dust and nothingness, feel all my thoughts disperse like dandelion fluff drifting off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-wish-i-could-close-my-eyes-and-be-blown-into-dust-and-nothingness-2/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“I wish I could close my eyes and be blown into dust and nothingness, feel all my thoughts disperse like dandelion fluff drifting off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-wish-i-could-close-my-eyes-and-be-blown-into-dust-and-nothingness/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“FORGIVENESS ADDRESSES HOW WE THINK AND FEEL ABOUT OTHERS AND OURSELVES AND HOW THOSE THOUGHTS MANIFEST WITHIN OUR LIVES AS ENERGY.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/forgiveness-addresses-how-we-think-and-feel-about-others-and/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [I feel my thoughts flow freely when I write in Kannada.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sudha-murty/i-feel-my-thoughts-flow-freely-when-i-write-in-kannada/) [Sudha Murty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sudha-murty/) > [Thoughts are not feelings, they are ideas of how you should feel. When thoughts and feelings get confused, the truth becomes clouded and lost.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/thoughts-are-not-feelings-they-are-ideas-of-how-you-should-feel-when/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [“that most people think with their feelings, whereas I feel with my thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/that-most-people-think-with-their-feelings-whereas-i-feel-with-my/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“I can feel you; In my thoughts, in my words and in my deeds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-kristian-goldmund-aumann/i-can-feel-you-in-my-thoughts-in-my-words-and-in-my-deeds/) sir kristian goldmund aumann > [People never explain to you exactly what they think and feel and how their thoughts and feelings work, do they? They don't have time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-faulks/people-never-explain-to-you-exactly-what-they-think-and-feel-and-how/) [Sebastian Faulks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-faulks/) > [As you focus your attention on the heart center, you will begin to feel your thoughts slowing down. You'll begin to feel your mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/as-you-focus-your-attention-on-the-heart-center-you-will-begin-to/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Your brain sends out vibrations all the time, and your thoughts affect your life and other people's. They pick up these thoughts and get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lipton/your-brain-sends-out-vibrations-all-the-time-and-your-thoughts-affect/) [Bruce Lipton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lipton/) > [I do what I want to.and I will always do what I want not what others want me to.i say what I feel.my thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nafisa-mj/i-do-what-i-want-to-and-i-will-always-do-what-i-want-not-what-others/) [Nafisa Mj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nafisa-mj/) > [“He was already beginning to understand that what was wrong with his writing was that there was something wrong, something misconceived, about him. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/he-was-already-beginning-to-understand-that-what-was-wrong-with-his/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I think a lot of people assume you need to be born into a special creative family to have a career as a writer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fallon/i-think-a-lot-of-people-assume-you-need-to-be-born-into-a-special/) [Jane Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fallon/) > [I started out in graduate school to be a fiction writer. I thought I wanted to write short stories. I started writing poems at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/i-started-out-in-graduate-school-to-be-a-fiction-writer-i-thought-i/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [“There is a problem with writers. If what a writer wrote was published and sold many, many copies, the writer thought he was great.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/there-is-a-problem-with-writers-if-what-a-writer-wrote-was-published/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## More by Alain de Botton > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? And what a gold, ivory, a flower or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/does-what-is-praised-becomes-better-does-an-emerald-become-worse-if/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/reputation-matters-so-much-only-because-people-so-seldom-think-for/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) [Explore all 850 Alain de Botton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We should read other people's books in order to learn what we feel; it is our own thoughts we should be developing, even if it is another writer's thought that help us to do so.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alain de Botton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-order-to-learn-what-we-feel-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-order-to-learn-what-we-feel-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/alain-de-botton-221_book_we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-o_651028.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/alain-de-botton-221_book_we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-o_651028.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f56/alain-de-botton-221_book_we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-o_651028.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We should read other people's books in order to learn what we feel; it is our own thoughts we should be…” — Alain de Botton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alain de Botton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We should read other people's books...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-order-to-learn-what-we-feel-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-should-read-other-people-s-books-in-order-to-learn-what-we-feel-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```