--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By the age of three ... I was already an…" description: "\"By the age of three ... I was already an addicted reader. I still crave daily immersion in experience other than my own; (it needn't be more pleasant, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55d/brigid-brophy-25464_addicted_by-the-age-of-three-i-was-already-an-add_712995.jpg" --- # By the age of three ... I was already an addicted reader… ![“By the age of three ... I was already an addicted reader. I still crave daily immersion in experience other than my own; (it needn't be more pleasant, exciting or illuminating -- merely other) and I still fall into books as though into catalepsy.” quote by Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55d/brigid-brophy-25464_addicted_by-the-age-of-three-i-was-already-an-add_712995.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55d/brigid-brophy-25464_addicted_by-the-age-of-three-i-was-already-an-add_712995.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55d/brigid-brophy-25464_addicted_by-the-age-of-three-i-was-already-an-add_712995.jpg) > “By the age of three ... I was already an addicted reader. I still crave daily immersion in experience other than my own; (it needn't be more pleasant, exciting or illuminating -- merely other) and I still fall into books as though into catalepsy.” [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author describes an early, compulsive love for reading, seeking immersion in others' experiences beyond personal pleasure. **In simple terms:** Early addiction to reading, craving immersion in others' lives. Key Takeaway Embrace reading as a way to experience diverse perspectives. Themes reading addiction immersion empathy learning Mood thoughtful curious inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - therapy - creative writing - travel planning - personal growth Key Concepts literary addiction psychology of escapism cognitive empathy Questions to Reflect On - What drives your need for immersion? - How can you balance reading with lived experience? A Different Perspective Reading can become escapist, limiting real‑world engagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I used to be addicted to 'Reader's Digest' growing up. I would read the stories about love, and I guess that's where I became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sia/i-used-to-be-addicted-to-reader-s-digest-growing-up-i-would-read-the/) [Sia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sia/) > [Awareness must be like the rays of the sun: extending everywhere, illuminating all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/awareness-must-be-like-the-rays-of-the-sun-extending-everywhere/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [When "everyone knows" that something is so, it is always more interesting and often illuminating to assumeexactly the opposite, and to see where that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/when-everyone-knows-that-something-is-so-it-is-always-more/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [There are few greater treasures to be acquired in youth than great poetry-and prose-stored in the memory. At the time one may resent the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-livingstone/there-are-few-greater-treasures-to-be-acquired-in-youth-than-great/) [Richard Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-livingstone/) > [Go forth in every direction- for the happiness, the harmony, the welfare of the many. Offer your heart, the seeds of understanding, like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/go-forth-in-every-direction-for-the-happiness-the-harmony-the-welfare/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [ \[Property\] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory piece of fiction, a work of craft, economy and such good merciless observation-one of those rare, crucial novels… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revelatory-piece-of-fiction-a-work/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [Imagination is not to be divorced from the facts. It is a way of illuminating the facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/imagination-is-not-to-be-divorced-from-the-facts-it-is-a-way-of/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Finding Mecca in America weaves social theory and concrete ethnography into a significant contribution on Muslims in the United States, illuminating broader questions about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eboo-patel/finding-mecca-in-america-weaves-social-theory-and-concrete/) [Eboo Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eboo-patel/) > [We don't know why we are here and . . . our role in the universe, and the thought of an infinite universe. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/we-don-t-know-why-we-are-here-and-our-role-in-the-universe-and-the/) [Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/) > [You just can't tell or calibrate motive or intelligence or sense. So I don't read anything unless someone tells me that it's really smart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/you-just-can-t-tell-or-calibrate-motive-or-intelligence-or-sense-so-i/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I think the first song I ever wrote ... was called "Can't Help Thinking About Me." That's an illuminating little piece, isn't it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-think-the-first-song-i-ever-wrote-was-called-can-t-help-thinking/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [The investigation of making is illuminating towards that moment rather than the other way around, a reversal of the way that I would approach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-mehretu/the-investigation-of-making-is-illuminating-towards-that-moment/) [Julie Mehretu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-mehretu/) > [Science and art may invent splendid modes of illuminating the apartments of the opulent; but these are all poor and worthless compared with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/science-and-art-may-invent-splendid-modes-of-illuminating-the/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Metaphor isn't just a fancy turn of speech. It shapes our thoughts and feelings, reaches out to grasp new experience, and even binds our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-richardson/metaphor-isn-t-just-a-fancy-turn-of-speech-it-shapes-our-thoughts-and/) [James Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-richardson/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) ## More by Brigid Brophy > [“O I'm so afraid that it's true about to travel hopefully being better than to arrive. It might be all in the quest, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/o-i-m-so-afraid-that-it-s-true-about-to-travel-hopefully-being-better/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [“Sentimentalist” is the abuse with which people counter the accusation that they are cruel, thereby implying that to be sentimental is worse than to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/sentimentalist-is-the-abuse-with-which-people-counter-the-accusation/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [Whenever people say, 'We mustn't be sentimental,' you can take it they are about to do something cruel. And if they add, 'We must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/whenever-people-say-we-mustn-t-be-sentimental-you-can-take-it-they/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [To us it seems incredible that the Greek philosophers should have scanned so deeply into right and wrong and yet never noticed the immorality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/to-us-it-seems-incredible-that-the-greek-philosophers-should-have/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [To my mind, the two most fascinating subjects in the universe are sex and the eighteenth century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/to-my-mind-the-two-most-fascinating-subjects-in-the-universe-are-sex/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [The fact that there are bigger injustices and wrongs doesn't make it right to sacrifice an innocent monkey. It doesn't alter the case at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/the-fact-that-there-are-bigger-injustices-and-wrongs-doesn-t-make-it/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [I refuse absolutely to consign the whole male sex to the nursery. ... I obdurately insist on believing that some men are my equals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/i-refuse-absolutely-to-consign-the-whole-male-sex-to-the-nursery-i/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [The popular distinction between 'constructive' and 'destructive' criticism is a sentimentality: the mind too weak to perceive in what respects the bad fails is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/the-popular-distinction-between-constructive-and-destructive/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [In a sense, the first (if not necessarily the prime) function of a novelist, of ANY artist, is to entertain. If the poem, painting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/in-a-sense-the-first-if-not-necessarily-the-prime-function-of-a/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [The thriller is the cardinal twentieth-century form. All it, like the twentieth century, wants to know is: Who's Guilty?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/the-thriller-is-the-cardinal-twentieth-century-form-all-it-like-the/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [A medical profession founded on callousness to the pain of the other animals may eventually destroy its own sensibility to the pain of humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/a-medical-profession-founded-on-callousness-to-the-pain-of-the-other/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [I refuse to consign the whole male sex to the nursery. I insist on believing that some men are my equals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/i-refuse-to-consign-the-whole-male-sex-to-the-nursery-i-insist-on/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [The bullfighter who torments a bull to death and then castrates it of an ear has neither proved nor increased his own virility; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/the-bullfighter-who-torments-a-bull-to-death-and-then-castrates-it-of/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [I don't myself believe that, even when we fulfill our minimum obligations not to cause pain, we have the right to kill animals. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/i-don-t-myself-believe-that-even-when-we-fulfill-our-minimum/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) > [To argue that we humans are capable of complex multifarious thought and feeling, whereas the sheep's perception is probably limited by lowly sheepish perceptions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brophy/to-argue-that-we-humans-are-capable-of-complex-multifarious-thought/) [Brigid Brophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) [Explore all 23 Brigid Brophy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brophy/) ## More Addicted quotes > [I love transforming myself constantly because it gives me that 'new' feeling that I'm very much addicted to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-mondo/i-love-transforming-myself-constantly-because-it-gives-me-that-new/) [Brad Mondo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-mondo/) > [Before I got addicted to comedy, I was seriously thinking about playing tennis full time. I joined the tennis team and played with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrot-top/before-i-got-addicted-to-comedy-i-was-seriously-thinking-about/) [Carrot Top](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrot-top/) > [I'm addicted to directing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-shankman/i-m-addicted-to-directing/) [Adam Shankman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-shankman/) > [It is like an addiction: I get addicted to performing and touring. I get itchy and think, 'I've got to do this.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-prass/it-is-like-an-addiction-i-get-addicted-to-performing-and-touring-i/) [Natalie Prass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-prass/) > [“Feeling addicted to an ex makes letting them go excruciatingly hard even when you rationally want to move on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-cortney-warren/feeling-addicted-to-an-ex-makes-letting-them-go-excruciatingly-hard/) Dr. Cortney Warren > [Mostly we are addicted to television shows for two reasons; whether it's because we get to connect with the story-line as somewhat similar is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sudha-chandran/mostly-we-are-addicted-to-television-shows-for-two-reasons-whether-it/) [Sudha Chandran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sudha-chandran/) > [Im so addicted to facebook I can log-in with my eyes close.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asheya/im-so-addicted-to-facebook-i-can-log-in-with-my-eyes-close/) [Asheya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asheya/) > [You know you are addicted to coffee when you still drink it and its over 100\*F outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylee/you-know-you-are-addicted-to-coffee-when-you-still-drink-it-and-its/) [Kylee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylee/) > [Fianlly a wave of reailty swept over my eyes and I was able to see, I wasn't in love with an angle but addicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian/fianlly-a-wave-of-reailty-swept-over-my-eyes-and-i-was-able-to-see-i/) [Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian/) > [I'm addicted to my BlackBerry. I get made fun of a lot in the writer's room for being on it constantly. I'm a writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bj-novak/i-m-addicted-to-my-blackberry-i-get-made-fun-of-a-lot-in-the-writer-s/) [BJ Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bj-novak/) > [Slightly Addicted, my Mind got me trippin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indigo-vanity/slightly-addicted-my-mind-got-me-trippin/) [Indigo Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indigo-vanity/) > [I'm addicted to your punishment and you're the master and I am waiting for disaster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/papa-roach/i-m-addicted-to-your-punishment-and-you-re-the-master-and-i-am/) [Papa Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/papa-roach/) > [“All you have to do is not fuck it up. Is it really that hard?” Was he kidding? Of course it was that hard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-j-shen/all-you-have-to-do-is-not-fuck-it-up-is-it-really-that-hard-was-he/) [L.J. Shen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-shen/) > [Collectors become obsessive and then addicted. You become addicted to art and you can't live without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-broad/collectors-become-obsessive-and-then-addicted-you-become-addicted-to/) [Eli Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-broad/) > [Yes, I'm a complete itinerant. I keep making attempts not to be, but then circumstances make me uproot and go somewhere else again. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-hall/yes-i-m-a-complete-itinerant-i-keep-making-attempts-not-to-be-but/) [Rebecca Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-hall/) Browse all 541 Addicted quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "By the age of three ... I was already an addicted reader. 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