--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reading is an act of contemplation…" description: "\"“Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being. We posses..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/david-l-ulin-57829_books_reading-is-an-act-of-contemplation-perha_175063.jpg" --- # Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act… ![“Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being. We possess the books we read, animating the waiting stillness of their language, but they possess us also, filling us with thoughts and observations, asking…” quote by David L. Ulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/david-l-ulin-57829_books_reading-is-an-act-of-contemplation-perha_175063.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/david-l-ulin-57829_books_reading-is-an-act-of-contemplation-perha_175063.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/david-l-ulin-57829_books_reading-is-an-act-of-contemplation-perha_175063.jpg) > ““Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being. We possess the books we read, animating the waiting stillness of their language, but they possess us also, filling us with thoughts and observations, asking us to make them part of ourselves.”” [David L. Ulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-ulin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading lets us temporarily inhabit another mind, sharing thoughts and emotions, while the text also reshapes our own perspective. **In simple terms:** Reading merges minds and reshapes us. Key Takeaway Let books change how you think. Themes empathy knowledge self‑growth Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - education - personal development - creative writing - therapy Key Concepts intertextuality cognitive resonance Questions to Reflect On - How does a book alter your worldview? - What habits help you internalize what you read? A Different Perspective Reading can be passive, limiting deep integration of ideas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-read/) [Contemplation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplation/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [It may be added, to prevent misunderstanding, that when I speak of contemplated objects in this last phrase as objects of contemplation, the act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-alexander/it-may-be-added-to-prevent-misunderstanding-that-when-i-speak-of/) [Samuel Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-alexander/) > [The act of contemplation then creates the thing created.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-d-israeli/the-act-of-contemplation-then-creates-the-thing-created/) [Isaac D'Israeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-d-israeli/) > [“The act of contemplation and what contemplates—to return to our own terminology—are essentially one with the pure Act, pure Being. On the contrary, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-schaya/the-act-of-contemplation-and-what-contemplates-to-return-to-our-own/) Leo Schaya > [There are two kinds of reading, reading which is contemplation - even a kind of vision & reading for information. For the first only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/there-are-two-kinds-of-reading-reading-which-is-contemplation-even-a/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [If there is something I am arguing, it is a critique of science. Science has consistently denied the existence of consciousness other than human.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/if-there-is-something-i-am-arguing-it-is-a-critique-of-science/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [But it has, in addition, an even more precious quality - a consciousness of the human intelligence, the human spirit and that man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mclaren/but-it-has-in-addition-an-even-more-precious-quality-a-consciousness/) [Norman McLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mclaren/) > [“Although we are moving in the right direction, one wonders how long it will take humanity to attain a consciousness of ourselves as human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakyo-komatsu/although-we-are-moving-in-the-right-direction-one-wonders-how-long-it/) [Sakyo Komatsu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakyo-komatsu/) > [Reading is entering into the consciousness of another human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/reading-is-entering-into-the-consciousness-of-another-human-being/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [“through the miracle of consciousness, the human psyche provides the mirror in which Nature sees herself reflected.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-stevens/through-the-miracle-of-consciousness-the-human-psyche-provides-the/) [Anthony Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-stevens/) > [If anyone can show me one example in the history of the world of a single spiritual person who has been able to show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-minchin/if-anyone-can-show-me-one-example-in-the-history-of-the-world-of-a/) [Tim Minchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-minchin/) > [“Evolution, life, physis, appear here as enveloping with regard to ‘consciousness’ of human knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/evolution-life-physis-appear-here-as-enveloping-with-regard-to/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“My experience showed me that the death of the body and the brain are not the end of consciousness, that human experience continues beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/my-experience-showed-me-that-the-death-of-the-body-and-the-brain-are/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > [“are not truly real in the consciousness of human experience until they are unraveled and correlated, until their relevant facts actually become meaning through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/urantia-foundation/are-not-truly-real-in-the-consciousness-of-human-experience-until/) Urantia Foundation > [When physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, contribute to the detection of concrete human woes and to the development of plans for remedying them and relieving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-physics-chemistry-biology-medicine-contribute-to-the-detection/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Every human being has consciousness, but not every human being has the same amount. The potential for each one of us human beings is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lynch/every-human-being-has-consciousness-but-not-every-human-being-has-the/) [David Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lynch/) ## More by David L. Ulin > [Reading is an act of resistance in a landscape of distraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-ulin/reading-is-an-act-of-resistance-in-a-landscape-of-distraction/) [David L. Ulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-ulin/) > [We possess books we read, animating the waiting stillness of their language, but they possess us also, filling us with thoughts and observations, asking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-ulin/we-possess-books-we-read-animating-the-waiting-stillness-of-their/) [David L. Ulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-ulin/) > [Just in time for the renewal of the war debate in Congress, the University of Chicago Press has released The U.S. Army / Marine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-ulin/just-in-time-for-the-renewal-of-the-war-debate-in-congress-the/) [David L. Ulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-ulin/) > [For new media reactionaries...the problem is technology, the endless distractions of the Internet, the breakdown of authority in an age of blogs and Twitter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-ulin/for-new-media-reactionaries-the-problem-is-technology-the-endless/) [David L. Ulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-ulin/) > [“What does it mean, this notion of...reading? ...it returns us to a reckoning with time. In the midst of a book, we have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-ulin/what-does-it-mean-this-notion-of-reading-it-returns-us-to-a-reckoning/) [David L. Ulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-ulin/) [Explore all 6 David L. Ulin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-ulin/) ## More Books 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/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being. We possess the books we read, animating the waiting stillness of their language, but they possess us also, filling us with thoughts and observations, asking us to make them part of ourselves.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David L. 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