--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human contacts have been so highly valued…" description: "\"“Human contacts have been so highly valued in the past only because reading was not a common accomplishment and because books were scarce and difficult..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/aldous-huxley-97_books_human-contacts-have-been-so-highly-value_1032675.jpg" --- # Human contacts have been so highly valued in the past only… ![“Human contacts have been so highly valued in the past only because reading was not a common accomplishment and because books were scarce and difficult to reproduce...As reading becomes more and more habitual and widespread, an ever-increasing number of people will discover that books will give…” quote by Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/aldous-huxley-97_books_human-contacts-have-been-so-highly-value_1032675.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/aldous-huxley-97_books_human-contacts-have-been-so-highly-value_1032675.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/aldous-huxley-97_books_human-contacts-have-been-so-highly-value_1032675.jpg) > ““Human contacts have been so highly valued in the past only because reading was not a common accomplishment and because books were scarce and difficult to reproduce...As reading becomes more and more habitual and widespread, an ever-increasing number of people will discover that books will give them all the pleasures of social life and none of its intolerable tedium.”” [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books once offered social connection because reading was rare; now they provide pleasure without the social drawbacks. **In simple terms:** Books used to be social; now they’re personal pleasure. Key Takeaway Embrace reading as a private joy. Themes literature technology social change media Mood reflective nostalgic Type essay philosophical When to use this quote - education - entertainment - social interaction - media consumption Key Concepts digital reading cultural shift Questions to Reflect On - How does reading alone affect community feeling? - Can books still foster social bonds? A Different Perspective Digital isolation may reduce real‑world interaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Pleasures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-pleasures-1564508/) [Books Scarce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-scarce-262879/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-common-1165394/) [Reading Habitual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-habitual-1564509/) [Satire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satire/) [Social life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-life/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“As reading becomes more and more habitual and widespread, an ever-increasing number of people will discover that books will give them all the pleasures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/as-reading-becomes-more-and-more-habitual-and-widespread-an-ever/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“No, give me the past. It doesn’t change; it’s all there in black and white, and you can get to know about it comfortably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/no-give-me-the-past-it-doesn-t-change-it-s-all-there-in-black-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Human contacts have been so highly valued in the past only because reading was not a common accomplishment… The world, you must remember, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/human-contacts-have-been-so-highly-valued-in-the-past-only-because-2/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [With books, as with companions, it is of more consequence to know which to avoid, than which to choose; for good books are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/with-books-as-with-companions-it-is-of-more-consequence-to-know-which-2/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [All these are readers, and their gestures, their craft, the pleasure, the responsibility and the power they derive from reading, are common with mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/all-these-are-readers-and-their-gestures-their-craft-the-pleasure-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [With books, as with companions, it is of more consequence to know which to avoid, than which to choose, for good books are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/with-books-as-with-companions-it-is-of-more-consequence-to-know-which/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [I grew up in a place where books were very, very scarce, and I loved to read. 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But I don't discuss it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-koch/i-have-a-social-life-but-i-don-t-discuss-it/) [Ed Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-koch/) > [It's important to make your social life and your friends and family - make that a priority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-barks/it-s-important-to-make-your-social-life-and-your-friends-and-family/) [Samantha Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-barks/) > [I have no social life. There is no time for one. Once in a while I may go to dinner with a friend but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-halliday/i-have-no-social-life-there-is-no-time-for-one-once-in-a-while-i-may/) [Liz Halliday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-halliday/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) ## More by Aldous Huxley > [“Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/unorthodoxy-threatens-more-than-the-life-of-a-mere-individual-it/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. Nor am I the captain of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/my-fate-cannot-be-mastered-it-can-only-be-collaborated-with-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/impulse-arrested-spills-over-and-the-flood-is-feeling-the-flood-is/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“The question for the man of sense is: Do we or do we not want to go to hell? And his answer is: No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-question-for-the-man-of-sense-is-do-we-or-do-we-not-want-to-go-to/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“I’ll MAKE you be free whether you want to or not.’ -The Savage”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-ll-make-you-be-free-whether-you-want-to-or-not-the-savage/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The third petition of the Lord's Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone's will be done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-third-petition-of-the-lord-s-prayer-is-repeated-daily-by-millions/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Then what’s time for?” asked Lenina in some astonishment. Apparently, for going on walks in the Lake District; for that was what he now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/then-what-s-time-for-asked-lenina-in-some-astonishment-apparently-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-right-then-said-the-savage-defiantly-i-m-claiming-the-right-to-be/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Speed, it seems to me, provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/speed-it-seems-to-me-provides-the-one-genuinely-modern-pleasure/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“What you need is a gramme of soma.” “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-you-need-is-a-gramme-of-soma-all-the-advantages-of-christianity/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [To be enlightened is to be aware, always, of total reality in its immanent otherness - to be aware of it and yet remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/to-be-enlightened-is-to-be-aware-always-of-total-reality-in-its/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Quote of the day:Quote of the day: A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/quote-of-the-day-quote-of-the-day-a-democracy-which-makes-or-even/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Explore all 1,291 Aldous Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More Books 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/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [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/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [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/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. 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