Book Quote by Cory Doctorow
““We are the people of the book. We love our books. We fill our houses with books. We treasure books we inherit from our parents, and we cherish the idea of passing those books on to our children. Indeed, how many of us started reading with a beloved book that belonged to one of our parents? We force worthy books on our friends, and we insist that they read them. We even feel a weird kinship for the people we see on buses or airplanes reading our books, the books that we claim. If anyone tries to take away our books—some oppressive government, some censor gone off the rails—we would defend them with everything that we have. We know our tribespeople when we visit their homes because every wall is lined with books. There are teetering piles of books beside the bed and on the floor; there are masses of swollen paperbacks in the bathroom. Our books are us. They are our outboard memory banks and they contain the moral, intellectual, and imaginative influences that make us the people we are today.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Talk at the 2013 Worldcon, 2013
Books are central to identity, memory, and cultural continuity, and defending them is defending the self and community.
In simple terms: Books shape who we are and protect our heritage.
Key Takeaway
Protect and share books.
Themes
culture
identity
freedom
heritage
Mood
proud
defiant
Type
cultural
reflective
When to use this quote
- family reading traditions
- public libraries
- censorship protests
- personal archives
Key Concepts
collective memory
intellectual freedom
social bonds
Questions to Reflect On
- What would you risk to defend a book?
- How do books influence personal identity?
A Different Perspective
Books alone cannot solve systemic oppression.
