Books Quote by Anonymous
““Every year, more than 120,000 new books are published in Britain, creating millions of volumes that will never be opened, let alone read. Many of these unread books are shredded into tiny fibre pellets called bitumen modifier, which can beused to make roads, holding the blacktop in place and doubling up as a sound absorber. A mile of motorway consumes about 50,000 books. The M6 Toll Road used up two-and-a-half million old Mills and Boon novels, romantic dreams crushed daily by juggernauts...Having your unread books vanish into the authorless anonymity of a road feels pleasingly melancholic, like having your ashes scattered in a vast ocean.””
About This Quote
Source Article: The Guardian feature on book waste, 2022
Massive numbers of books are discarded and repurposed into road material, highlighting waste and the melancholy of unread stories.
In simple terms: Many books become road filler, a sad but useful fate.
Key Takeaway
Consider recycling unread books creatively.
Themes
environment
waste
literature
melancholy
Mood
reflective
somber
Type
analytical
critical
When to use this quote
- library deaccession
- road construction
- community recycling programs
Key Concepts
circular economy
cultural loss
Questions to Reflect On
- What value do unread books hold?
- How can we reduce book waste?
A Different Perspective
The environmental benefit may not offset cultural loss.
![“Umberto Eco is the owner of a large personal library of almost 30,000 books that he has not read. [To him] read books are far less valuable than unread ones.” quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cc8/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_book_umberto-eco-is-the-owner-of-a-large-pers_2630779.jpg)
