Books Quote by Diane Setterfield
““As one tends to the graves of the dead, so I tend the books. I clean them, do minor repairs, keep them in good order. And every day I open a volume or two, read a few lines or pages, allow the voices of the forgotten dead to resonate inside my head. Do they sense it, these dead writers, when their books are read? Does a pinprick of light appear in their darkness? Is their soul stirred by the feather touch of another mind reading theirs? I do hope so, for it must be very lonely being dead.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, 2006
The speaker treats books like graves, caring for them and listening to the voices of deceased authors, hoping their spirits feel acknowledged.
In simple terms: Caring for books connects us to past writers.
Key Takeaway
Respect and engage with literature.
Themes
memory
literature
loneliness
respect
connection
Mood
contemplative
nostalgic
Type
reflective
philosophical
When to use this quote
- library work
- personal reading
- teaching
- archiving
- literary analysis
Key Concepts
authorial presence
legacy
empathy
Questions to Reflect On
- How does reading change your perception of the author?
- What responsibilities do we have to preserve others' work?
A Different Perspective
The impact on a dead author's soul is speculative and cannot be measured.
![“[On the writers she admires:] I prefer dead writers, because I don't see them at parties.” quote by Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/461/fran-lebowitz-690_admire_on-the-writers-she-admires-i-prefer-dead_218567.jpg)
