--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a great thing to start life with a…" description: "\"“It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own. You may not appreciate them at first. You may pine..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6a/arthur-conan-doyle-273_art-life_it-is-a-great-thing-to-start-life-with-a_1904978.jpg" --- # It is a great thing to start life with a small number of… ![“It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own. You may not appreciate them at first. You may pine for your novel of crude and unadulterated adventure. You may, and will, give it the preference when you can. But the dull days come, and the rainy…” quote by Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6a/arthur-conan-doyle-273_art-life_it-is-a-great-thing-to-start-life-with-a_1904978.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6a/arthur-conan-doyle-273_art-life_it-is-a-great-thing-to-start-life-with-a_1904978.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6a/arthur-conan-doyle-273_art-life_it-is-a-great-thing-to-start-life-with-a_1904978.jpg) > ““It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own. You may not appreciate them at first. You may pine for your novel of crude and unadulterated adventure. You may, and will, give it the preference when you can. But the dull days come, and the rainy days come, and always you are driven to fill up the chinks of your reading with the worthy books which wait so patiently for your notice. And then suddenly, on a day which marks an epoch in your life, you understand the difference. You see, like a flash, how the one stands for nothing, and the other for literature. From that day onwards you may return to your crudities, but at least you do so with some standard of comparison in your mind. You can never be the same as you were before. Then gradually the good thing becomes more dear to you; it builds itself up with your growing mind; it becomes a part of your better self, and so, at last, you can look, as I do now, at the old covers and love them for all that they have meant in the past.”” [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading good books shapes personal standards, making ordinary literature seem lesser and enriching self‑growth. **In simple terms:** Good books raise your standards and enrich you. Key Takeaway Seek quality literature early. Themes personal growth literature self‑improvement Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - college courses - career development - personal reflection - literary clubs Key Concepts human development literary value cognitive enrichment Questions to Reflect On - How do you choose a book that will change you? - What standards do you use to judge literature? A Different Perspective May overlook practical experience in favor of theory. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Classic literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classic-literature/) [Good book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-book/) [Good books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-books/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Maturity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maturity/) [Rainy days](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainy-days/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-a-great-thing-to-start-life-with-a-small-number-of-really-good/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“Nowadays, people read too many books to appreciate any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/nowadays-people-read-too-many-books-to-appreciate-any/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [If We Sit With An Increasing Stillness Of The BodyThe Mind Gradually Stills And The Heart Is Filled With Quiet Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-ravindra/if-we-sit-with-an-increasing-stillness-of-the-bodythe-mind-gradually/) [Ravi Ravindra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-ravindra/) > [A man's mind will very gradually refuse to make itself up until it is driven and compelled by emergency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/a-man-s-mind-will-very-gradually-refuse-to-make-itself-up-until-it-is/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [The mind has to be gradually and systematically brought under control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-mind-has-to-be-gradually-and-systematically-brought-under-control/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“As spiritual searchers we need to become freer and freer of the attachment to our own smallness in which we get occupied with me-me-me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-ravindra/as-spiritual-searchers-we-need-to-become-freer-and-freer-of-the/) [Ravi Ravindra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-ravindra/) > [The classic literature is always modern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/the-classic-literature-is-always-modern/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [“So does a whole world, with all of its greatness and littleness, lie in a twinkling star.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/so-does-a-whole-world-with-all-of-its-greatness-and-littleness-lie-in/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“How many trials and tribulations we have to go through in order to enjoy them as they are now! 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I ejaculated.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/wonderful-i-ejaculated/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Amberley excelled at chess - a mark, Watson, of a scheming mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/amberley-excelled-at-chess-a-mark-watson-of-a-scheming-mind/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Ex-Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity... is the Napoleon of crime, Watson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/ex-professor-moriarty-of-mathematical-celebrity-is-the-napoleon-of/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has the nerve and he has the knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/when-a-doctor-does-go-wrong-he-is-the-first-of-criminals-he-has-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/how-small-we-feel-with-our-petty-ambitions-and-strivings-in-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [You wish to put me in the dark. I tell you that I will never be put in the dark. You wish to beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/you-wish-to-put-me-in-the-dark-i-tell-you-that-i-will-never-be-put-in/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. 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I am for Art, but for Art that has nothing to do with Art.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/it-is-neither-art-for-art-nor-art-against-art-i-am-for-art-but-for/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [Art lives where absolute freedom is, because where it is not, there can be no creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/art-lives-where-absolute-freedom-is-because-where-it-is-not-there-can/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [“Now Now is the time… Now is the time – Make a change Now is the time – All is strange Now is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-earle/now-now-is-the-time-now-is-the-time-make-a-change-now-is-the-time-all/) [Christopher Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-earle/) > [Art is indeed not the bread but the wine of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/art-is-indeed-not-the-bread-but-the-wine-of-life/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [“Miserable man that I am, what fellowship hath my perverseness with Thy uprightness ? 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Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) > [The proper school to learn art is not life but art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-proper-school-to-learn-art-is-not-life-but-art/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The art of life is to show your hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-v-lucas/the-art-of-life-is-to-show-your-hand/) [E. V. Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-v-lucas/) Browse all 216 Art life quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own. You may not appreciate them at first. You may pine for your novel of crude and unadulterated adventure. You may, and will, give it the preference when you can. But the dull days come, and the rainy days come, and always you are driven to fill up the chinks of your reading with the worthy books which wait so patiently for your notice. And then suddenly, on a day which marks an epoch in your life, you understand the difference. You see, like a flash, how the one stands for nothing, and the other for literature. From that day onwards you may return to your crudities, but at least you do so with some standard of comparison in your mind. You can never be the same as you were before. 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