--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What does it mean, this notion…" description: "\"“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 choice but to be patient, t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/david-l-ulin-57829_books_what-does-it-mean-this-notion-of-reading_3185003.jpg" --- # What does it mean, this notion of...reading? ...it returns… ![“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 choice but to be patient, to take each thing in its moment, to let the narrative prevail. Even more, we are reminded of all we need to savor--this instant, this scene, this…” quote by David L. Ulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/david-l-ulin-57829_books_what-does-it-mean-this-notion-of-reading_3185003.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/david-l-ulin-57829_books_what-does-it-mean-this-notion-of-reading_3185003.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f09/david-l-ulin-57829_books_what-does-it-mean-this-notion-of-reading_3185003.jpg) > ““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 choice but to be patient, to take each thing in its moment, to let the narrative prevail. Even more, we are reminded of all we need to savor--this instant, this scene, this line. We regain the world by withdrawing from it just a little, by stepping back from the noise, the tumult, to discover our reflections in another mind. As we do, we join a broader conversation, by which we both transcend ourselves and are enlarged.”” [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 forces us to pause, savor moments, and see ourselves reflected in another’s narrative, expanding our perspective beyond daily noise. **In simple terms:** Reading makes us pause and reflect, expanding our view. Key Takeaway Pause, read, reflect, and broaden your mind. Themes reflection mindfulness literature expansion Mood contemplative thoughtful inspired Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - Personal meditation - literary analysis - creative writing - mindful living - educational workshops Key Concepts Narrative immersion temporal awareness self‑transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How does reading change your perception of time? - In what ways does literature enlarge personal identity? A Different Perspective Reading can become escapism rather than engagement with reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I let my narrative embroidering impulses take over in prose poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthea-harvey/i-let-my-narrative-embroidering-impulses-take-over-in-prose-poems/) [Matthea Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthea-harvey/) > [Every time we pick up a book from a sense of duty and we find that we're struggling to get through it, we reinforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/every-time-we-pick-up-a-book-from-a-sense-of-duty-and-we-find-that-we/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [“Reading is the act of listening and speaking at the same time, with someone you've never met, but love. Even if you hate them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-nayeri/reading-is-the-act-of-listening-and-speaking-at-the-same-time-with/) [Daniel Nayeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-nayeri/) > [The way we learn to write is the way we learn to talk: We listen to others and start mimicking speech, and that's how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/the-way-we-learn-to-write-is-the-way-we-learn-to-talk-we-listen-to/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [The best way for women to acquire knowledge is from conversation with a father, a brother, or a friend, in the way of family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-letitia-barbauld/the-best-way-for-women-to-acquire-knowledge-is-from-conversation-with/) [Anna Letitia Barbauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-letitia-barbauld/) > [Writers and musicians know well the importance of extensive reading for successful writing or extensive listening for musical composition. Likewise, visual artists... understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laseau/writers-and-musicians-know-well-the-importance-of-extensive-reading/) [Paul Laseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laseau/) > [My writing has always been what you call 'narrative fiction' in the sense that it's got very strong plots and twists at the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/my-writing-has-always-been-what-you-call-narrative-fiction-in-the/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [I've always been interested in medicine and was pleased when my brother became a doctor. But after thinking seriously about that field, I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-medicine-and-was-pleased-when-my/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [The narrative needs to change. Asian-American actresses don't want to be the damsels in distress anymore. We don't want to be saved, especially by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-chung/the-narrative-needs-to-change-asian-american-actresses-don-t-want-to/) [Jamie Chung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-chung/) > [John Lane has long been recognized as one of the South's finest poets and memoirists. This debut establishes him as one of our finest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-rash/john-lane-has-long-been-recognized-as-one-of-the-south-s-finest-poets/) [Ron Rash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-rash/) > [A lot of Broadway has that immigrant narrative of America as a place where you can become something else against all odds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-kass/a-lot-of-broadway-has-that-immigrant-narrative-of-america-as-a-place/) [Deborah Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-kass/) > [Your job as a writer is to find storylines, narrative structures, and characters to show the things that you believe rather than saying them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/your-job-as-a-writer-is-to-find-storylines-narrative-structures-and/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [If you do weave one-liners into a story, you have to have an overall story as well, otherwise it doesn't really count as narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/if-you-do-weave-one-liners-into-a-story-you-have-to-have-an-overall/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More by David L. Ulin > [“Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-ulin/reading-is-an-act-of-contemplation-perhaps-the-only-act-in-which-we/) [David L. Ulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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/) [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! 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/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [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/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [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/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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": "“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 choice but to be patient, to take each thing in its moment, to let the narrative prevail. Even more, we are reminded of all we need to savor--this instant, this scene, this line. 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