--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Books have long been instruments of the…" description: "\"“Books have long been instruments of the divinatory arts. ”\" — Alberto Manguel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/alberto-manguel-2467_art_books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the_340622.jpg" --- # Books have long been instruments of the divinatory arts. ![“Books have long been instruments of the divinatory arts.” quote by Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/alberto-manguel-2467_art_books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the_340622.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/alberto-manguel-2467_art_books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the_340622.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/alberto-manguel-2467_art_books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the_340622.jpg) > ““Books have long been instruments of the divinatory arts. ”” [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books are portrayed as tools for divination, suggesting they reveal hidden truths. **In simple terms:** Books can uncover hidden insights. Key Takeaway Use reading to explore deeper meanings. Themes knowledge mysticism literature Mood curious inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research - creative writing - spiritual practice - self‑discovery Key Concepts divination interpretation symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What hidden truths have you found in books? - Can literature truly predict the future? A Different Perspective Divination claim may be metaphorical. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/libraries-whether-my-own-or-shared-with-a-greater-reading-public-have-2/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [As winter approaches - bringing cold weather and family drama - we crave page-turners, books made for long nights and tryptophan-induced sloth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-maclean/as-winter-approaches-bringing-cold-weather-and-family-drama-we-crave/) [Sarah MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-maclean/) > [“Children's author C. Alexander London (2011) writes, “It's a fact: people can survive without books. People can even have wonderful, full lives without books.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donalyn-miller/children-s-author-c-alexander-london-2011-writes-it-s-a-fact-people/) [Donalyn Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donalyn-miller/) > [Comic books have a long, fraught history with sexism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/comic-books-have-a-long-fraught-history-with-sexism/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [All my books take a long time to research. I spend several months researching before I start writing, and in the middle of writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-sue-park/all-my-books-take-a-long-time-to-research-i-spend-several-months/) [Linda Sue Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-sue-park/) > [Human attention is limited, and a massive number of newly browsable books from the long tail necessarily compete with the biggest best-sellers, just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-wolf/human-attention-is-limited-and-a-massive-number-of-newly-browsable/) [Gary Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-wolf/) > [The Bible is actually a library of books-some long, some short- written over hundreds of years by many authors. Behind each one, however, was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/the-bible-is-actually-a-library-of-books-some-long-some-short-written/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [I don't want to be famous per se, but I want to write books for as long as I can. And I plan on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/i-don-t-want-to-be-famous-per-se-but-i-want-to-write-books-for-as/) [Amanda Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-hocking/) > [“The monuments, the ideas left behind by beings like me are my greatest pleasure in life. Without books I would long ago have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/the-monuments-the-ideas-left-behind-by-beings-like-me-are-my-greatest/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [There will always be books as long as I am mentally capable of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/there-will-always-be-books-as-long-as-i-am-mentally-capable-of-it/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [“The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-world-of-books-is-the-most-remarkable-creation-of-man-nothing-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We read Books to Learn, Earn our Living above all to live wisely and Creative Never forget good books are Long term investments with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-t-v-rao-md/we-read-books-to-learn-earn-our-living-above-all-to-live-wisely-and/) [Dr.T.V.Rao MD](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-t-v-rao-md/) > [I read all the time. People ask, 'Do you read while you work?' And I say, 'I better.' I take two or three years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/i-read-all-the-time-people-ask-do-you-read-while-you-work-and-i-say-i/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [“For life is short and the art of writing books is very, very long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/for-life-is-short-and-the-art-of-writing-books-is-very-very-long/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [I don't care why a client books me, as long as they book me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maye-musk/i-don-t-care-why-a-client-books-me-as-long-as-they-book-me/) [Maye Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maye-musk/) ## More by Alberto Manguel > [Most readers, then and now, have at some time experienced the humiliation of being told that their occupation is reprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/most-readers-then-and-now-have-at-some-time-experienced-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/libraries-whether-my-own-or-shared-with-a-greater-reading-public-have/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [At different times and in different places I have come to expect certain books to look a certain way, and, as in all fashions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/at-different-times-and-in-different-places-i-have-come-to-expect/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feelings-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Then one day, from the window of a car (the destination of that journey is now forgotten), I saw a billboard by the side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/then-one-day-from-the-window-of-a-car-the-destination-of-that-journey/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The shelves of books we haven't written, like those of books we haven't read, stretches out into the darkness of the universal library's farthest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-shelves-of-books-we-haven-t-written-like-those-of-books-we-haven/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“I have no feeling of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feeling-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/old-books-that-we-have-known-but-not-possessed-cross-our-path-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Ordered by subject, by importance, ordered according to whether the book was penned by God or by one of God's creatures, ordered alphabetically or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ordered-by-subject-by-importance-ordered-according-to-whether-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The starting point is a question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-starting-point-is-a-question/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Ljubav je imbecilna izvesnost pomoću koje naša fantazija stvara verodostojnu utvaru.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ljubav-je-imbecilna-izvesnost-pomo-u-koje-na-a-fantazija-stvara/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I know that something dies when i give up my books, and that my memory keeps going back to them with mournful nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-know-that-something-dies-when-i-give-up-my-books-and-that-my-memory/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Something about the possession of a book - an object that can contain infinite fables, words of wisdom, chronicles of times gone by, humorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/something-about-the-possession-of-a-book-an-object-that-can-contain/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/maybe-this-is-why-we-read-and-why-in-moments-of-darkness-we-return-to/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [As centuries of dictators have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule; since the craft of reading cannot be untaught once it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/as-centuries-of-dictators-have-known-an-illiterate-crowd-is-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) [Explore all 159 Alberto Manguel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Books have long been instruments of the divinatory arts. ”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alberto Manguel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the-divinatory-arts/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the-divinatory-arts/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/alberto-manguel-2467_art_books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the_340622.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/alberto-manguel-2467_art_books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the_340622.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/alberto-manguel-2467_art_books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the_340622.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Books have long been instruments of the divinatory arts.” — Alberto Manguel", "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": "Alberto Manguel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Books have long been instruments of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the-divinatory-arts/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/books-have-long-been-instruments-of-the-divinatory-arts/#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 } } ] } ```