--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reading is not simply an intellectual…" description: "\"“Reading is not simply an intellectual pursuit but an emotional and spiritual one. It lights the candle in the hurricane lamp of self; that's why it su..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/anna-quindlen-467_books_reading-is-not-simply-an-intellectual-pu_953665.png" --- # Reading is not simply an intellectual pursuit but an… ![“Reading is not simply an intellectual pursuit but an emotional and spiritual one. It lights the candle in the hurricane lamp of self; that's why it survives." [ Turning the Page: The future of reading is backlit and bright , Newsweek Magazine, March 25, 2010]” quote by Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/anna-quindlen-467_books_reading-is-not-simply-an-intellectual-pu_953665.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/anna-quindlen-467_books_reading-is-not-simply-an-intellectual-pu_953665.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/926/anna-quindlen-467_books_reading-is-not-simply-an-intellectual-pu_953665.png) > ““Reading is not simply an intellectual pursuit but an emotional and spiritual one. It lights the candle in the hurricane lamp of self; that's why it survives." \[ Turning the Page: The future of reading is backlit and bright , Newsweek Magazine, March 25, 2010\]”” [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading engages both mind and soul, providing emotional resilience that sustains us through turmoil. **In simple terms:** Reading fuels heart and mind, giving strength in storms. Key Takeaway Read to nurture emotional and spiritual well‑being. Themes reading emotional health spiritual growth Mood reflective inspired Type literary motivational When to use this quote - personal development - stress relief - creative inspiration - education Key Concepts cognitive empathy resilience mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does reading shape your inner life? - What emotions arise when you read challenging texts? A Different Perspective Reading alone cannot solve practical problems; action is also needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Self -awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-awareness/) [Turning the page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turning-the-page/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Reading is not simply an intellectual pursuit but an emotional and spiritual one. It lights the candle in the hurricane lamp of self; that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/reading-is-not-simply-an-intellectual-pursuit-but-an-emotional-and-2/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [The future of reading is screens. Books are toast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-lou-jepsen/the-future-of-reading-is-screens-books-are-toast/) [Mary Lou Jepsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-lou-jepsen/) > [Libraries are the future of reading. When the economy is down, we need to make it easier for people to buy and read books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-milan/libraries-are-the-future-of-reading-when-the-economy-is-down-we-need/) [Courtney Milan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-milan/) > [Libraries are the future of reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-milan/libraries-are-the-future-of-reading/) [Courtney Milan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-milan/) > [“Who would have thought you could see the future by reading a book about the past?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-echols/who-would-have-thought-you-could-see-the-future-by-reading-a-book/) [Damien Echols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-echols/) > [For me socialism has never been an intellectual pursuit. It comes from my upbringing and experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-phillips/for-me-socialism-has-never-been-an-intellectual-pursuit-it-comes-from/) [Jess Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-phillips/) > [The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that still carries any reward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/the-avoidance-of-taxes-is-the-only-intellectual-pursuit-that-still/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Hip-hop is my vehicle for scientific enlightenment. It wasn't until my music career matured where I was exposed to science as an intellectual pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gza/hip-hop-is-my-vehicle-for-scientific-enlightenment-it-wasn-t-until-my/) Gza > [“The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/the-avoidance-of-taxes-is-the-only-intellectual-pursuit-that-carries/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [HALE, with a tasty love of intellectual pursuit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/hale-with-a-tasty-love-of-intellectual-pursuit/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [It is impossible to believe the emotional and spiritual intensity and pure, classic beauty that can be produced by a man, an animal, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-is-impossible-to-believe-the-emotional-and-spiritual-intensity-and/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [ \[The Return of the Prodigal book\] came out of my emotional and spiritual journey during the four months I was gone from Daybreak because… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/the-return-of-the-prodigal-book-came-out-of-my-emotional-and/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [“I am not looking for a "perfect" man. Only one who matches me on an emotional, spiritual, sexual, and intellectual level.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-mosher/i-am-not-looking-for-a-perfect-man-only-one-who-matches-me-on-an/) [Amanda Mosher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-mosher/) > [I think there are three kinds of songs; it's only my theory: psychological, emotional, and spiritual. When you write psychologically or intellectually, you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-sedaka/i-think-there-are-three-kinds-of-songs-it-s-only-my-theory/) [Neil Sedaka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-sedaka/) > [“The heart and the spirit also shed. They shed the emotions and experiences that we no longer need. They shed the things that stunt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/the-heart-and-the-spirit-also-shed-they-shed-the-emotions-and/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) ## More by Anna Quindlen > [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/) > [Trying to be perfect may be inevitable for people who are smart and ambitious and interested in the world and its good opinion...What is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/trying-to-be-perfect-may-be-inevitable-for-people-who-are-smart-and/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Sometimes change came all at once, with a sound like a fire taking hold of dry wood and paper, with a roar that rose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/sometimes-change-came-all-at-once-with-a-sound-like-a-fire-taking/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Loss as muse. Loss as character. Loss as life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/loss-as-muse-loss-as-character-loss-as-life/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [knowledge of our own mortality is the greatest gift God ever gives us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/knowledge-of-our-own-mortality-is-the-greatest-gift-god-ever-gives-us/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [You teach your 16-year-old with your heart in your mouth to be a good driver and none of that makes any difference when some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/you-teach-your-16-year-old-with-your-heart-in-your-mouth-to-be-a-good/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Every reader, I suspect, has a book like this somewhere in his or her past, a book that seemed to hold within it, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/every-reader-i-suspect-has-a-book-like-this-somewhere-in-his-or-her/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“I’ve finally recognized my body for what it is: a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-ve-finally-recognized-my-body-for-what-it-is-a-personality-delivery/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [A man who builds his own pedestal had better use strong cement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/a-man-who-builds-his-own-pedestal-had-better-use-strong-cement/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“In England I am always madam; I arrived too late to ever be a miss. In New York I have only been madamed once,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/in-england-i-am-always-madam-i-arrived-too-late-to-ever-be-a-miss-in/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small, the sense that I ought to be somewhere else. And wander I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/yet-there-was-always-in-me-even-when-i-was-very-small-the-sense-that/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I can't think of a single downside to motherhood now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-can-t-think-of-a-single-downside-to-motherhood-now/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It would take a helluva man to replace no man at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/it-would-take-a-helluva-man-to-replace-no-man-at-all/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Not writing at all leads to nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/not-writing-at-all-leads-to-nothing/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Reading has always been my home, my sustenance, my great invincible companion. "Book love," Trollope called it. "It will make your hours pleasant to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/reading-has-always-been-my-home-my-sustenance-my-great-invincible/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) [Explore all 538 Anna Quindlen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) ## 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. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [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/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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