--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Remember that for all the books we have…" description: "\"“Remember that for all the books we have in print, are as many that have never reached print, have never been written down-even now, in this age of com..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/doris-lessing-501_books_remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have_2981038.jpg" --- # Remember that for all the books we have in print, are as… ![“Remember that for all the books we have in print, are as many that have never reached print, have never been written down-even now, in this age of compulsive reverence for the written word, history, even social ethic, are taught by means of stories, and the people who have been conditioned into…” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/doris-lessing-501_books_remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have_2981038.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/doris-lessing-501_books_remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have_2981038.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/doris-lessing-501_books_remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have_2981038.jpg) > ““Remember that for all the books we have in print, are as many that have never reached print, have never been written down-even now, in this age of compulsive reverence for the written word, history, even social ethic, are taught by means of stories, and the people who have been conditioned into thinking only in terms of what is written-and unfortunately nearly all the products of our educational system can do no more than this-are missing what is before their eyes. For instance, the real history of Africa is still in the custody of black storytellers and wise men, black historians, medicine men: it is a verbal history, still kept safe from the white man and his predations. Everywhere, if you keep your mind open, you will find the words not written down. So never let the printed page be your master. Above all, you should know that the fact that you have to spend one year, or two years, on one book, or one author means that you are badly taught-you should have been taught to read your way from one sympathy to another, you should be learning to follow you own intuitive feeling about what you need; that is what you should have been developing, not the way to quote from other people.”” [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. The quote warns against over‑reliance on written texts, urging us to value oral histories and personal intuition in learning. **In simple terms:** Don’t let printed books dominate learning; seek oral stories and inner guidance. Key Takeaway Cultivate intuitive, story‑based learning. Themes education oral tradition intuition colonialism history Mood reflective critical inquisitive Type advice philosophical cultural. When to use this quote - classroom teaching - self‑directed study - cross‑cultural research - historical inquiry Key Concepts epistemology cultural memory critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can you integrate oral histories into your learning? - What intuition guides your reading choices? A Different Perspective Written texts can be incomplete or biased, especially regarding marginalized voices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [So the ethic I was taught in school resulted in the path I chose in my life following school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mitnick/so-the-ethic-i-was-taught-in-school-resulted-in-the-path-i-chose-in/) [Kevin Mitnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mitnick/) > [“The Character Ethic taught that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-covey/the-character-ethic-taught-that-there-are-basic-principles-of/) [Stephen R. Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-covey/) > [I was lucky enough when it came to sports and work ethic to be taught some basics that continue to be important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-namath/i-was-lucky-enough-when-it-came-to-sports-and-work-ethic-to-be-taught/) [Joe Namath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-namath/) > [I have an excellent memory - for books and authors, that is. I remember all the books I've read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/i-have-an-excellent-memory-for-books-and-authors-that-is-i-remember/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [“I hope people of the future will remember my books for being burned, and I challenge an elite few to imagine the embers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/i-hope-people-of-the-future-will-remember-my-books-for-being-burned/) [Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/) > [“Remember some books are meant to be tasted, some books are meant to be chewed and, finally, some books are meant to be swallowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/remember-some-books-are-meant-to-be-tasted-some-books-are-meant-to-be/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-cannot-remember-the-books-i-ve-read-any-more-than-the-meals-i-have/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [While I read almost all my newspapers online, I'm not a big fan of e-books because I like to see what I've read and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-lynch/while-i-read-almost-all-my-newspapers-online-i-m-not-a-big-fan-of-e/) [Paul Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-lynch/) > [“I can no longer remember the books I have read than the meals I have eaten, but they have made me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/i-can-no-longer-remember-the-books-i-have-read-than-the-meals-i-have/) [Gordon B. 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And Grandpa taught me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-brown/my-grandmother-taught-me-to-read-before-i-went-to-school-i-was/) [Carolyn Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-brown/) > [He taught me literature, and he actually taught me how to read. He was my personal mentor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/he-taught-me-literature-and-he-actually-taught-me-how-to-read-he-was/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [I had amazing intellectual privilege as a kid. My mom taught me to read when I was two or three. When I was five,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-abani/i-had-amazing-intellectual-privilege-as-a-kid-my-mom-taught-me-to/) [Chris Abani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-abani/) > [“We are taught how to read, write, to be polite, cautious and respectful. But no one ever teaches us how to be happy. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-guilbeau/we-are-taught-how-to-read-write-to-be-polite-cautious-and-respectful/) [Nina Guilbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-guilbeau/) ## 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 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": "“Remember that for all the books we have in print, are as many that have never reached print, have never been written down-even now, in this age of compulsive reverence for the written word, history, even social ethic, are taught by means of stories, and the people who have been conditioned into thinking only in terms of what is written-and unfortunately nearly all the products of our educational system can do no more than this-are missing what is before their eyes. For instance, the real history of Africa is still in the custody of black storytellers and wise men, black historians, medicine men: it is a verbal history, still kept safe from the white man and his predations. Everywhere, if you keep your mind open, you will find the words not written down. So never let the printed page be your master. Above all, you should know that the fact that you have to spend one year, or two years, on one book, or one author means that you are badly taught-you should have been taught to read your way from one sympathy to another, you should be learning to follow you own intuitive feeling about what you need; that is what you should have been developing, not the way to quote from other people.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Doris Lessing" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have-in-print-are-as-many-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have-in-print-are-as-many-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/doris-lessing-501_books_remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have_2981038.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/doris-lessing-501_books_remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have_2981038.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/doris-lessing-501_books_remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have_2981038.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Remember that for all the books we have in print, are as many that have never reached print, have never been…” — 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": "“Remember that for all the books...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have-in-print-are-as-many-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/remember-that-for-all-the-books-we-have-in-print-are-as-many-that/#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 } } ] } ```