--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't read a book out of its right time…" description: "\"Don't read a book out of its right time for you.\" — Doris Lessing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/doris-lessing-501_book_don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time_1599430.png" --- # Don't read a book out of its right time for you. ![“Don't read a book out of its right time for you.” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/doris-lessing-501_book_don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time_1599430.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/doris-lessing-501_book_don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time_1599430.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/doris-lessing-501_book_don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time_1599430.png) > “Don't read a book out of its right time for you.” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading should align with one's current life stage, not forced by external timing. **In simple terms:** Read when it fits your life. Key Takeaway Choose books that resonate now. Themes reading timing personal growth Mood contemplative practical Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - career changes - education - personal crises Key Concepts literature development mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - When does a book feel right for you? - How does timing affect comprehension? A Different Perspective Timing is subjective; flexibility is key. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Bookshops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bookshops/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“You have to read a book at the right time for you, and I am sure this cannot be insisted on too often, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-have-to-read-a-book-at-the-right-time-for-you-and-i-am-sure-this/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-way-to-read-which-is-to-browse-in-libraries-and-2/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Read a book at the right age and it will stay with you for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/read-a-book-at-the-right-age-and-it-will-stay-with-you-for-life/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“Choosing a book is so gratifying, it’s worth dragging out the process, starting even before finishing the current one. As the final chapters approach,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-paul/choosing-a-book-is-so-gratifying-it-s-worth-dragging-out-the-process/) [Pamela Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-paul/) > [“The right book at the right time, may mean more in a persone's life than anything else”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-shippey/the-right-book-at-the-right-time-may-mean-more-in-a-persone-s-life/) Lee shippey > [Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/remember-that-the-book-which-bores-you-when-you-are-twenty-or-thirty-2/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“Give your brain a break and read a book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-lyon/give-your-brain-a-break-and-read-a-book/) Jeff Lyon > [“Before I Talk, I Should Read A Book”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-b-52s/before-i-talk-i-should-read-a-book/) The B-52s > [Ive never read a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-bullard/ive-never-read-a-book/) [Jimmy Bullard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-bullard/) > [When I'm deciding to read a book, I never open to the first chapter, because that's been revised and worked over 88 times. I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-hiaasen/when-i-m-deciding-to-read-a-book-i-never-open-to-the-first-chapter/) [Carl Hiaasen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-hiaasen/) > [Free time is a terrible thing to waste. Read a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri-2/free-time-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste-read-a-book/) E. A. Bucchianeri > [“When you read a book, you don't give up on it. You might soon feel like your part of the story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/when-you-read-a-book-you-don-t-give-up-on-it-you-might-soon-feel-like/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [I think that most people go to bookshops and have no idea what they want to buy. Somehow the books sit there, almost magically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-think-that-most-people-go-to-bookshops-and-have-no-idea-what-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-way-to-read-which-is-to-browse-in-libraries-and-3/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“I just can't get with this idea that literature is a 12-step program. If someone wants to read a book to see good people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/i-just-can-t-get-with-this-idea-that-literature-is-a-12-step-program/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) ## More by Doris Lessing > [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/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. Or, if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/in-the-morning-when-she-wishes-me-to-wake-she-crouches-on-my-chest/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-real-sin-and-that-is-to-persuade-oneself-that-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. Yet all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used-the-fruit-earlier-to-calm/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I remember World War II when there were very few books, very little paper available. For me to walk into a shop or look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-remember-world-war-ii-when-there-were-very-few-books-very-little/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [They can't give a Nobel to someone who's dead so I think they were probably thinking they had better give it to me now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/they-can-t-give-a-nobel-to-someone-who-s-dead-so-i-think-they-were/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“While she strode rapidly through the ward to the door at the other end, she was able to see that every bed or cot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/while-she-strode-rapidly-through-the-ward-to-the-door-at-the-other/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I do not think that marriage is one of my talents. I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-human-community-is-evolving-we-can-survive-anything-you-care-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [So love is rest? The cosy corner? The little nook? Sometimes it ought to be. Sometimes it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/so-love-is-rest-the-cosy-corner-the-little-nook-sometimes-it-ought-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) [Explore all 508 Doris Lessing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## 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": "Don't read a book out of its right time for you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Doris Lessing" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time-for-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time-for-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/doris-lessing-501_book_don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time_1599430.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/doris-lessing-501_book_don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time_1599430.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/765/doris-lessing-501_book_don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time_1599430.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Don't read a book out of its right time for you.” — Doris Lessing", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Doris Lessing", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Don't read a book out of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time-for-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/don-t-read-a-book-out-of-its-right-time-for-you/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```