--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Buying books would be a good thing if one…" description: "\"“Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them; but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/arthur-schopenhauer-226_appropriation_buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-on_719568.jpg" --- # Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy… ![“Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them; but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.” quote by Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/arthur-schopenhauer-226_appropriation_buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-on_719568.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/arthur-schopenhauer-226_appropriation_buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-on_719568.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/arthur-schopenhauer-226_appropriation_buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-on_719568.jpg) > ““Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them; but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.”” [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The desire to acquire books often ignores the lack of time needed to truly engage with them, making ownership superficial. **In simple terms:** Buying books without time is meaningless. Key Takeaway Prioritize time for reading before buying. Themes materialism reading time management Mood reflective critical Type philosophical advisory When to use this quote - library visits - personal development - budgeting - digital reading Key Concepts philosophy consumerism Questions to Reflect On - How can you allocate reading time? - What value does a book hold without reading? A Different Perspective Reading requires time, not just purchase. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Appropriation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appropriation/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Buying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buying/) [Buying books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buying-books/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [To buy books would be a good thing if we could also buy the time to read them; but the purchase of books is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/to-buy-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-we-could-also-buy-the-time-to/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [I never wanted my books to be mistaken for poetry or fiction books; I wanted to write reference books. But instead of referring to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-goldsmith/i-never-wanted-my-books-to-be-mistaken-for-poetry-or-fiction-books-i/) [Kenneth Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-goldsmith/) > [“Buying books in that 20 year period of my life in which the internet pervaded much of what I did, was quick and simple.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-boyle/buying-books-in-that-20-year-period-of-my-life-in-which-the-internet/) [Mark Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-boyle/) > [With my adult books, for the first six weeks or so, it's about 60 percent ebooks in terms of sales. The kids' books, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/with-my-adult-books-for-the-first-six-weeks-or-so-it-s-about-60/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [... that when you're buying books, you're optimistically thinking you're buying the time to read them. (Paraphrase of Schopenhauer)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-when-you-re-buying-books-you-re-optimistically-thinking-you-re/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [The revolution of ideas that will save us is a revolution of goodwill, of compassion, and of higher thinking. I believe that they outnumber…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-revolution-of-ideas-that-will-save-us-is-a-revolution-of-goodwill/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [ “\[D\]on't ever apologise to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library (that's what they're there for. Use… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/d-on-t-ever-apologise-to-an-author-for-buying-something-in-paperback/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Now, everyone is excited about food - cooking, growing, learning - watching it on TV, buying books, trying things at home. It's the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-oliver/now-everyone-is-excited-about-food-cooking-growing-learning-watching/) [Jamie Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-oliver/) > [“Jack shook his head. 'Books. What is it with women and books? My sisters were the same. They were always buying books for boys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazel-osmond/jack-shook-his-head-books-what-is-it-with-women-and-books-my-sisters/) Hazel Osmond > [“What a delightful library you have at Pemberley, Mr. Darcy!” “It ought to be good,” he replied, “it has been the work of many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/what-a-delightful-library-you-have-at-pemberley-mr-darcy-it-ought-to/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“The more freely a librarian mingles with readers, and the greater the amount of assistance he renders them, the more intense does the conviction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-green/the-more-freely-a-librarian-mingles-with-readers-and-the-greater-the/) Samuel Green > [“buying books would be a good thing if we also could buy the time to read them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-we-also-could-buy-the-time-to/) [arthur schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“She asked her parents to buy him the books she’d been read by her first teachers, Peter Rabbit and Frog and Toad. “What’s the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/she-asked-her-parents-to-buy-him-the-books-she-d-been-read-by-her/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [Buying clothes is as good as buying books, but the difference is that clothes make you beautiful form the outside and books make you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/buying-clothes-is-as-good-as-buying-books-but-the-difference-is-that/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [“A bookshop is a peaceful sanctuary of silent voices waiting to heard”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mala-naidoo/a-bookshop-is-a-peaceful-sanctuary-of-silent-voices-waiting-to-heard/) [Mala Naidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mala-naidoo/) ## More by Arthur Schopenhauer > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“In accordance with such zeal, by reducing the external world to a matter of faith, he wanted merely to open a little door for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/in-accordance-with-such-zeal-by-reducing-the-external-world-to-a/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“Imitation and custom are the spring of almost all human action. The cause of it is that men fight shy of all and any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/imitation-and-custom-are-the-spring-of-almost-all-human-action-the/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [ \[T\]he appropriate form of address between man and man ought to be, not monsieur, sir, but fellow sufferer, compagnon de miseres. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/t-he-appropriate-form-of-address-between-man-and-man-ought-to-be-not/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [The eternal being..., as it lives in us, also lives in every animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/the-eternal-being-as-it-lives-in-us-also-lives-in-every-animal/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [there are very few who can think, but every man wants to have an opinion; and what remains but to take it ready-made from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/there-are-very-few-who-can-think-but-every-man-wants-to-have-an/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [It is not what things are objectively and in themselves, but what they are for us, in our way of looking at them, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/it-is-not-what-things-are-objectively-and-in-themselves-but-what-they/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [ “\[Materialism\] seeks the primary and most simple state of matter, and then tries to develop all the others from it; ascending from mere mechanism,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/materialism-seeks-the-primary-and-most-simple-state-of-matter-and/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [In order to increase his pleasures, man has intentionally added to the number and pressure of his needs, which in their original state were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/in-order-to-increase-his-pleasures-man-has-intentionally-added-to-the/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“For the will, as that which is common to all, is for that reason also common: consequently, every vehement emergence of will is common,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/for-the-will-as-that-which-is-common-to-all-is-for-that-reason-also/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“Alles Urdenken geschieht in Bildern: darum ist die Phantasie ein so nothwendiges Werkzeug desselben, und werden phantasielose Köpfe nie etwas Großes leisten, - es…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/alles-urdenken-geschieht-in-bildern-darum-ist-die-phantasie-ein-so/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Intellect is invisible to the man who has none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/intellect-is-invisible-to-the-man-who-has-none/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Newspapers are the second hand of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/newspapers-are-the-second-hand-of-history/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [“In travelling where novelties of all kinds press in upon us, mental food is often supplied so rapidly from without that there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/in-travelling-where-novelties-of-all-kinds-press-in-upon-us-mental/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) [Explore all 791 Arthur Schopenhauer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) ## More Appropriation quotes > [What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we loved black culture?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amandla-stenberg/what-would-america-be-like-if-we-loved-black-people-as-much-as-we/) [Amandla Stenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amandla-stenberg/) > [We have some of the most influential Members of Congress here today, and I do hope that we can get this appropriation for these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/we-have-some-of-the-most-influential-members-of-congress-here-today/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [“What you have now then is the marketing of racialized identities as tools for consumption. And certain racialized bodies and images are associated with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amalia-mesa-bains/what-you-have-now-then-is-the-marketing-of-racialized-identities-as/) Amalia Mesa-Bains > [Here one must think profoundly to the very basis and resist all sentimental weakness: life itself is essentially appropriation, injury, conquest of the strange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/here-one-must-think-profoundly-to-the-very-basis-and-resist-all/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [As chairman of the Senate subcommittee responsible for NASA appropriations, I say not a penny for this nutty fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-proxmire/as-chairman-of-the-senate-subcommittee-responsible-for-nasa/) [William Proxmire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-proxmire/) > [Feminist pedagogy can only be liberatory if it is truly revolutionary because the mechanisms of appropriation within white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy are able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/feminist-pedagogy-can-only-be-liberatory-if-it-is-truly-revolutionary/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-cleveland/i-can-find-no-warrant-for-such-an-appropriation-in-the-constitution/) [Grover Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-cleveland/) > [I'm not tied to the news cycle. I can do an episode on cultural appropriation, not on Rachel Dolezal. We might make a joke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moshe-kasher/i-m-not-tied-to-the-news-cycle-i-can-do-an-episode-on-cultural/) [Moshe Kasher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moshe-kasher/) > [I propose in the following discussion to call one's own labor, and the equivalent exchange of one's own labor for the labor of others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-oppenheimer/i-propose-in-the-following-discussion-to-call-one-s-own-labor-and-the/) Franz Oppenheimer > [“The postmodern notion of "appropriation" is not a good fit. In New Mexico, the "indigenous" is a syncretic fusion of Native American and Hispano…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/the-postmodern-notion-of-appropriation-is-not-a-good-fit-in-new/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [If you want to talk about cultural appropriation, we have to go back to the Greeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mcdormand/if-you-want-to-talk-about-cultural-appropriation-we-have-to-go-back/) [Frances McDormand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mcdormand/) > [Translation is not appropriation, as is sometimes claimed; it is a form of listening that then changes how you speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-weinberger/translation-is-not-appropriation-as-is-sometimes-claimed-it-is-a-form/) [Eliot Weinberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-weinberger/) > [“The alternative to appropriation is a world in which artists only reference their own cultures." "That's an oversimplification of the issue." "The alternative to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/the-alternative-to-appropriation-is-a-world-in-which-artists-only/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [There are two methods, or means, and only two, whereby man's needs and desires can be satisfied. One is the production and exchange of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-j-nock/there-are-two-methods-or-means-and-only-two-whereby-man-s-needs-and/) [Albert J. Nock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-j-nock/) > [“Even you, the professional helper, often mistaken for the enlightened Guru or Staretz, can become lost in your thoughts that you must be competent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-e-spradlin/even-you-the-professional-helper-often-mistaken-for-the-enlightened/) Scott E. Spradlin [Browse all 108 Appropriation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appropriation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them; but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arthur Schopenhauer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-one-could-also-buy-the-time-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Appropriation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-one-could-also-buy-the-time-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/arthur-schopenhauer-226_appropriation_buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-on_719568.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/arthur-schopenhauer-226_appropriation_buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-on_719568.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/arthur-schopenhauer-226_appropriation_buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-on_719568.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them; but as a rule the purchase…” — Arthur Schopenhauer", "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": "Arthur Schopenhauer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Buying books would be a good...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-one-could-also-buy-the-time-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/buying-books-would-be-a-good-thing-if-one-could-also-buy-the-time-to/#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 } } ] } ```