--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Books act like a developing fluid on…" description: "\"Books act like a developing fluid on film. That is, they bring into consciousness what you didn’t know you knew.\" — Clifton Fadiman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/clifton-fadiman-11053_book_books-act-like-a-developing-fluid-on-fil_1105146.jpg" --- # Books act like a developing fluid on film. That is, they… ![“Books act like a developing fluid on film. That is, they bring into consciousness what you didn’t know you knew.” quote by Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/clifton-fadiman-11053_book_books-act-like-a-developing-fluid-on-fil_1105146.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/clifton-fadiman-11053_book_books-act-like-a-developing-fluid-on-fil_1105146.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/clifton-fadiman-11053_book_books-act-like-a-developing-fluid-on-fil_1105146.jpg) > “Books act like a developing fluid on film. That is, they bring into consciousness what you didn’t know you knew.” [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading reveals subconscious knowledge, turning vague ideas into awareness. **In simple terms:** Books make hidden thoughts clear. Key Takeaway Read to discover unknown insights. Themes reading self‑discovery consciousness Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - education - creative writing - therapy Key Concepts cognitive awakening latent knowledge literary influence Questions to Reflect On - What hidden ideas have you uncovered? - How can reading change self‑perception? A Different Perspective Not all books provoke insight; personal relevance matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Bring Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bring-consciousness-1338512/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Film Bring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film-bring-1402684/) [Fluid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fluid/) [Fluid Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fluid-film-2917318/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) ## Related quotes > [It's a great asset to you, on your first film, to bring some people with you from the television world because they understand the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfonso-gomez-rejon/it-s-a-great-asset-to-you-on-your-first-film-to-bring-some-people/) [Alfonso Gomez-Rejon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfonso-gomez-rejon/) > [I know, of course, that by using film we can bring in other previously unknown worlds, realities beyond reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingmar-bergman/i-know-of-course-that-by-using-film-we-can-bring-in-other-previously/) [Ingmar Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingmar-bergman/) > [I made the film to bring the story of Islam, the story of 700 million of people, to the West.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moustapha-akkad/i-made-the-film-to-bring-the-story-of-islam-the-story-of-700-million/) [Moustapha Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moustapha-akkad/) > [When you're doing a different kind of film, you have to bring a different kind of attitude; you have to bring a different kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-lewis/when-you-re-doing-a-different-kind-of-film-you-have-to-bring-a/) [Jerry Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-lewis/) > [“The morning was hot, and the exercise of reading left her mind contracting and expanding like the main-spring of a clock, and the small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-morning-was-hot-and-the-exercise-of-reading-left-her-mind/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [When you bring consciousness to anything, things begin to shift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/when-you-bring-consciousness-to-anything-things-begin-to-shift/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [Making photographs can be a way for me to bring something up and into consciousness, something either shared or individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torbj-rn-r-dland/making-photographs-can-be-a-way-for-me-to-bring-something-up-and-into/) [Torbjørn Rødland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torbj-rn-r-dland/) > [That which you do not bring to consciousness comes to you as your Fate, that which you do bring to consciousness, whether it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/that-which-you-do-not-bring-to-consciousness-comes-to-you-as-your/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [1.If you can bring your consciousness, your awareness, your intelligence to the act, if you can be spontaneous, then there is no need for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/1-if-you-can-bring-your-consciousness-your-awareness-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The first task in teaching is to bring to consciousness what the students already believe by virtue of their personal experiences about themselves and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-wellstone/the-first-task-in-teaching-is-to-bring-to-consciousness-what-the/) [Paul Wellstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-wellstone/) > [That which we do not bring to consciousness appears in our lives as fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-which-we-do-not-bring-to-consciousness-appears-in-our-lives-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We are here to bring to consciousness the beauty and power that are around us and to praise the people who are here with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-are-here-to-bring-to-consciousness-the-beauty-and-power-that-are/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [So it is essential to bring more consciousness into your life in ordinary situations when everything is going relatively smoothly. In this way, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/so-it-is-essential-to-bring-more-consciousness-into-your-life-in/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [What we think of as physical reality is an intermingling of appropriate realities, a fluid massive consciousness in which each of us exists independently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/what-we-think-of-as-physical-reality-is-an-intermingling-of/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [How wonderful it would be to scatter words as they rise to consciousness, to let them lie where they fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/how-wonderful-it-would-be-to-scatter-words-as-they-rise-to/) [Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/) ## More by Clifton Fadiman > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [A good memory is one trained to forget the trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/a-good-memory-is-one-trained-to-forget-the-trivial/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [A bottle of wine begs to be shared; I have never met a miserly wine lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/a-bottle-of-wine-begs-to-be-shared-i-have-never-met-a-miserly-wine/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [ \[Books\] will visit you at your convenience, whether you are lonesome or not, on rainy days or fair. They propose themselves as either transient… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/books-will-visit-you-at-your-convenience-whether-you-are-lonesome-or/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [Name me any liquid except our own blood that flows more intimately and incessantly through the labyrinth of symbols we have conceived to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/name-me-any-liquid-except-our-own-blood-that-flows-more-intimately/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [Wine is a civilizing agent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/wine-is-a-civilizing-agent/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [When you read a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/when-you-read-a-classic-you-do-not-see-more-in-the-book-than-you-did/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [To take wine into your mouth is to savor a droplet of the river of human history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-take-wine-into-your-mouth-is-to-savor-a-droplet-of-the-river-of/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The adjective is the banana peel of the parts of speech.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/the-adjective-is-the-banana-peel-of-the-parts-of-speech/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [“Don't be afraid of poetry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/don-t-be-afraid-of-poetry/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [Being a child is in itself a profession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/being-a-child-is-in-itself-a-profession/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [ Seriously, I do not know what to say of this book \[ Absalom, Absalom!\] except that it seem to point to the final blowup… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/seriously-i-do-not-know-what-to-say-of-this-book-absalom-absalom/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [A man who is careful with his palate is not likely to be careless with his paragraphs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/a-man-who-is-careful-with-his-palate-is-not-likely-to-be-careless/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [To feel at home, stay at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-feel-at-home-stay-at-home/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The kind of poetry to avoid in the pretty-pretty kind that pleased our grandmothers, the kind that Longfellow and Tennyson, good poets at their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/the-kind-of-poetry-to-avoid-in-the-pretty-pretty-kind-that-pleased/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) [Explore all 62 Clifton Fadiman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) ## More Book 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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Books act like a developing fluid on film. 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