--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How are you coming with your home…" description: "\"“How are you coming with your home library? Do you need some good ammunition on why it's so important to read? The last time I checked the statistics....." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/earl-nightingale-1728_books_how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-librar_604036.jpg" --- # How are you coming with your home library? Do you need… ![“How are you coming with your home library? Do you need some good ammunition on why it's so important to read? The last time I checked the statistics...I think they indicated that only four percent of the adults in this country have bought a book within the past year. That's dangerous. It's…” quote by Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/earl-nightingale-1728_books_how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-librar_604036.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/earl-nightingale-1728_books_how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-librar_604036.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/earl-nightingale-1728_books_how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-librar_604036.jpg) > ““How are you coming with your home library? Do you need some good ammunition on why it's so important to read? The last time I checked the statistics...I think they indicated that only four percent of the adults in this country have bought a book within the past year. That's dangerous. It's extremely important that we keep ourselves in the top five or six percent. In one of the Monthly Letters from the Royal Bank of Canada it was pointed out that reading good books is not something to be indulged in as a luxury. It is a necessity for anyone who intends to give his life and work a touch of quality. The most real wealth is not what we put into our piggy banks but what we develop in our heads. Books instruct us without anger, threats and harsh discipline. They do not sneer at our ignorance or grumble at our mistakes. They ask only that we spend some time in the company of greatness so that we may absorb some of its attributes. You do not read a book for the book's sake, but for your own. You may read because in your high-pressure life, studded with problems and emergencies, you need periods of relief and yet recognize that peace of mind does not mean numbness of mind. You may read because you never had an opportunity to go to college, and books give you a chance to get something you missed. You may read because your job is routine, and books give you a feeling of depth in life. You may read because you did go to college. You may read because you see social, economic and philosophical problems which need solution, and you believe that the best thinking of all past ages may be useful in your age, too. You may read because you are tired of the shallowness of contemporary life, bored by the current conversational commonplaces, and wearied of shop talk and gossip about people. Whatever your dominant personal reason, you will find that reading gives knowledge, creative power, satisfaction and relaxation. It cultivates your mind by calling its faculties into exercise. Books are a source of pleasure - the purest and the most lasting. They enhance your sensation of the interestingness of life. Reading them is not a violent pleasure like the gross enjoyment of an uncultivated mind, but a subtle delight. Reading dispels prejudices which hem our minds within narrow spaces. One of the things that will surprise you as you read good books from all over the world and from all times of man is that human nature is much the same today as it has been ever since writing began to tell us about it. Some people act as if it were demeaning to their manhood to wish to be well-read but you can no more be a healthy person mentally without reading substantial books than you can be a vigorous person physically without eating solid food. Books should be chosen, not for their freedom from evil, but for their possession of good. Dr. Johnson said: "Whilst you stand deliberating which book your son shall read first, another boy has read both.”” [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading enriches the mind, provides knowledge, creativity, and mental relief, essential for personal and professional growth. **In simple terms:** Books improve mind, give knowledge, and help relax. Key Takeaway Read regularly to develop mind and quality of life. Themes education self-improvement knowledge mental health career development Mood inspired reflective motivated Type advice motivational philosophical When to use this quote - personal development - career advancement - stress relief - intellectual curiosity - social awareness Key Concepts Humanism lifelong learning cognitive enrichment Questions to Reflect On - How does reading influence your daily decisions? - What type of books most improve your life? A Different Perspective Reading alone does not replace practical experience or critical thinking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Dr johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dr-johnson/) [Good book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-book/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Peace of mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace-of-mind/) [Piggy bank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/piggy-bank/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading good books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-good-books/) [Real wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-wealth/) [Temporary Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temporary-life/) ## Related quotes > [Some people act as if it were demeaning to their manhood to wish to be well-read but you can no more be a healthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/some-people-act-as-if-it-were-demeaning-to-their-manhood-to-wish-to/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [I love to read. I wish I could advise more people to read. There’s a whole new world in books. If you can’t afford…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/i-love-to-read-i-wish-i-could-advise-more-people-to-read-there-s-a/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [“Reading good books spoils you for enjoying bad books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-barrows/reading-good-books-spoils-you-for-enjoying-bad-books/) [Annie Barrows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-barrows/) > [ Stretching \[and\] yoga \[are\] very helpful. All of these things - they really do help. Good food and a lot of sleep. And reading… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/stretching-and-yoga-are-very-helpful-all-of-these-things-they-really/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Reading books is good, Rereading good books is better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-clark-powell/reading-books-is-good-rereading-good-books-is-better/) [Lawrence Clark Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-clark-powell/) > [“Reading good books is like engaging in conversation with the most cultivated minds of past centuries who had composed them, or rather, taking part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/reading-good-books-is-like-engaging-in-conversation-with-the-most/) [René Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [“An acquaintanceship with the literature of the world may be won by any person who will devote half an hour a day to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-widtsoe/an-acquaintanceship-with-the-literature-of-the-world-may-be-won-by/) [John A. Widtsoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-a-widtsoe/) > [I always considered myself a loner. I mean, not like a poor-me, Byron-esque, I-should-have-brought-a-swimming-buddy loner. I mean the sort of person who doesn’t feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/i-always-considered-myself-a-loner-i-mean-not-like-a-poor-me-byron/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [“Mr. Ram was a dedicated person—that means he didn’t let go of the things that were important to him. He was dedicated to Seniors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-k-ali/mr-ram-was-a-dedicated-person-that-means-he-didn-t-let-go-of-the/) S.K. Ali > [Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/tis-the-good-reader-that-makes-the-good-book-in-every-book-he-finds/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Reading good books gives a few lessons, stable minds, inner intellects, a lesson of life, and a way ahead to fly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abid-hussain/reading-good-books-gives-a-few-lessons-stable-minds-inner-intellects/) Abid Hussain > [“One cannot be taught to write. One can only learn to write by writing—and reading. Reading good books written by real artists—until you understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/one-cannot-be-taught-to-write-one-can-only-learn-to-write-by-writing/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [I can think of no habit, kept up through the years, that binds a married couple more than that of reading good books together.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hegan-rice/i-can-think-of-no-habit-kept-up-through-the-years-that-binds-a/) [Alice Hegan Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hegan-rice/) > [Happiness, for me, has to be real - life that is made of real conversations, of spending quality time with close friends, walks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhumika-chawla/happiness-for-me-has-to-be-real-life-that-is-made-of-real/) [Bhumika Chawla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhumika-chawla/) > [Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ann-shaffer/reading-good-books-ruins-you-for-enjoying-bad-books/) [Mary Ann Shaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ann-shaffer/) ## More by Earl Nightingale > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Open your ears before you open your mouth, it may surprise your eyes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/open-your-ears-before-you-open-your-mouth-it-may-surprise-your-eyes/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [People don't have great attitudes because of great success, they have great success largely because of great attitudes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/people-don-t-have-great-attitudes-because-of-great-success-they-have/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Now, success is not the result of making money; making money is the result of success - and success is in direct proportion to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/now-success-is-not-the-result-of-making-money-making-money-is-the/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/the-more-intensely-we-feel-about-an-idea-or-a-goal-the-more-assuredly/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light.\[so we can see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/we-all-walk-in-the-dark-and-each-of-us-must-learn-to-turn-on-his-or/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [We tend to minimize the things we can do, the goals we can accomplish, and for some equally strange reason we think other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/we-tend-to-minimize-the-things-we-can-do-the-goals-we-can-accomplish/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [You can predict a person?s future and divine his bank balance if you know two things: the books he reads, the people he associates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/you-can-predict-a-person-s-future-and-divine-his-bank-balance-if-you/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [The amount of money we receive will always be in direct ratio to the demand for what we do; our ability to do it;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/the-amount-of-money-we-receive-will-always-be-in-direct-ratio-to-the/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [“And the greatest teacher of them all, the carpenter from the plains of Galilee, gave us the Secret time and time again, "As ye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/and-the-greatest-teacher-of-them-all-the-carpenter-from-the-plains-of/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Do what experts since the dawn of recorded history have told you you must do: pay the price by becoming the person you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/do-what-experts-since-the-dawn-of-recorded-history-have-told-you-you/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [A success is anyone who is doing deliberately a pre-determined job, because that's what he decided to do deliberately. But only one out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/a-success-is-anyone-who-is-doing-deliberately-a-pre-determined-job/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Achievement requires more than a vision - it takes courage, resolve and tenacity. All you have got to do is plant that seed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/achievement-requires-more-than-a-vision-it-takes-courage-resolve-and/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/the-biggest-mistake-that-you-can-make-is-to-believe-that-you-are/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [We may avoid the laws of man, but there are greater laws that can't be broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/we-may-avoid-the-laws-of-man-but-there-are-greater-laws-that-can-t-be/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) [Explore all 213 Earl Nightingale quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) ## 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": "“How are you coming with your home library? Do you need some good ammunition on why it's so important to read? The last time I checked the statistics...I think they indicated that only four percent of the adults in this country have bought a book within the past year. That's dangerous. It's extremely important that we keep ourselves in the top five or six percent. In one of the Monthly Letters from the Royal Bank of Canada it was pointed out that reading good books is not something to be indulged in as a luxury. It is a necessity for anyone who intends to give his life and work a touch of quality. The most real wealth is not what we put into our piggy banks but what we develop in our heads. Books instruct us without anger, threats and harsh discipline. They do not sneer at our ignorance or grumble at our mistakes. They ask only that we spend some time in the company of greatness so that we may absorb some of its attributes. You do not read a book for the book's sake, but for your own. You may read because in your high-pressure life, studded with problems and emergencies, you need periods of relief and yet recognize that peace of mind does not mean numbness of mind. You may read because you never had an opportunity to go to college, and books give you a chance to get something you missed. You may read because your job is routine, and books give you a feeling of depth in life. You may read because you did go to college. You may read because you see social, economic and philosophical problems which need solution, and you believe that the best thinking of all past ages may be useful in your age, too. You may read because you are tired of the shallowness of contemporary life, bored by the current conversational commonplaces, and wearied of shop talk and gossip about people. Whatever your dominant personal reason, you will find that reading gives knowledge, creative power, satisfaction and relaxation. It cultivates your mind by calling its faculties into exercise. Books are a source of pleasure - the purest and the most lasting. They enhance your sensation of the interestingness of life. Reading them is not a violent pleasure like the gross enjoyment of an uncultivated mind, but a subtle delight. Reading dispels prejudices which hem our minds within narrow spaces. One of the things that will surprise you as you read good books from all over the world and from all times of man is that human nature is much the same today as it has been ever since writing began to tell us about it. Some people act as if it were demeaning to their manhood to wish to be well-read but you can no more be a healthy person mentally without reading substantial books than you can be a vigorous person physically without eating solid food. Books should be chosen, not for their freedom from evil, but for their possession of good. Dr. Johnson said: \"Whilst you stand deliberating which book your son shall read first, another boy has read both.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Earl Nightingale" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-library-do-you-need-some-good/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-library-do-you-need-some-good/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/earl-nightingale-1728_books_how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-librar_604036.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/earl-nightingale-1728_books_how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-librar_604036.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/earl-nightingale-1728_books_how-are-you-coming-with-your-home-librar_604036.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“How are you coming with your home library? 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