--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The value of books is proportionate to…" description: "\"“The value of books is proportionate to what may be called their plasticity -- their quality of being all things to all men, of being diversely moulded..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/edith-wharton-512_all-things_the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-w_2639911.png" --- # The value of books is proportionate to what may be called… ![“The value of books is proportionate to what may be called their plasticity -- their quality of being all things to all men, of being diversely moulded by the impact of fresh forms of thought.” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/edith-wharton-512_all-things_the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-w_2639911.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/edith-wharton-512_all-things_the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-w_2639911.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/edith-wharton-512_all-things_the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-w_2639911.png) > ““The value of books is proportionate to what may be called their plasticity -- their quality of being all things to all men, of being diversely moulded by the impact of fresh forms of thought.”” [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books’ value depends on their flexibility to shape thoughts and be molded by new ideas. **In simple terms:** Books are valuable when they adapt to new ideas. Key Takeaway Seek works that challenge and expand your thinking. Themes literature flexibility thought adaptability growth Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - education - personal development - creative writing - research - philosophy Key Concepts plasticity interpretation intellectual development Questions to Reflect On - Which book changed your perspective? - How do you apply new ideas from reading? A Different Perspective Rigid reading limits growth; not all books are equally adaptable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [All things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-things/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Proportionate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-proportionate-2261125/) [Called Plasticity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-plasticity-2261127/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Impact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impact/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Plasticity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plasticity/) [Plasticity Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plasticity-quality-2261129/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Value Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value-books-366235/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“Try to avoid your house catching fire, as this does no good at all. And while your house is still intact, it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-connolly/try-to-avoid-your-house-catching-fire-as-this-does-no-good-at-all-and/) [Joseph Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-connolly/) > [We don't value books enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-pratt/we-don-t-value-books-enough/) [Spencer Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-pratt/) > [I firmly believe in the value of books: it's the way to pass on our work, and it allows us to explore new ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/domenico-dolce/i-firmly-believe-in-the-value-of-books-it-s-the-way-to-pass-on-our/) [Domenico Dolce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/domenico-dolce/) > [I think the value in books like mine, and a great number by other talented writers, is in the ability to bring dark subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-the-value-in-books-like-mine-and-a-great-number-by-other/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [“It’s kind of sad how much value I was placing in the heaps of books I owned. Obviously it was more than their real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-fields-millburn/it-s-kind-of-sad-how-much-value-i-was-placing-in-the-heaps-of-books-i/) [Joshua Fields Millburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-fields-millburn/) > [But everything of value about me is in my books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/but-everything-of-value-about-me-is-in-my-books/) [V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/) > [I can't say that you should extract this or that value from my books explicitly. They are up for interpretation. In terms of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/i-can-t-say-that-you-should-extract-this-or-that-value-from-my-books/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [Value all books in proportion as they are agreeable to Scripture. Those that are nearest to it are the best, and those that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/value-all-books-in-proportion-as-they-are-agreeable-to-scripture/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [As useful as websites and journals are, there's real value in books, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamais-cascio/as-useful-as-websites-and-journals-are-there-s-real-value-in-books-too/) [Jamais Cascio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamais-cascio/) > [“Our relation to books is a shadowy space haunted by the ghosts of memory, and the real value of books lies in their ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/our-relation-to-books-is-a-shadowy-space-haunted-by-the-ghosts-of/) [Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/) > [Writing in India will not dramatically change till we learn to value books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-subramanian/writing-in-india-will-not-dramatically-change-till-we-learn-to-value/) [Ravi Subramanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-subramanian/) > [I am stretching out this volume, since those German dogs estimate the value of books by their cubic contents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/i-am-stretching-out-this-volume-since-those-german-dogs-estimate-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Hence, instead of Man Thinking, we have the bookworm. Hence, the book-learned class, who value books, as such; not as related to nature and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/hence-instead-of-man-thinking-we-have-the-bookworm-hence-the-book/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [There is this value in books, that they enable us to converse with the dead. There is something in this beyond the mere intrinsic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egerton-brydges/there-is-this-value-in-books-that-they-enable-us-to-converse-with-the/) [Egerton Brydges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egerton-brydges/) > [What people value in their books—and thus what they count as literature—really tells you more about them than it does about the book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-weeks/what-people-value-in-their-books-and-thus-what-they-count-as/) [Brent Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-weeks/) ## More by Edith Wharton > [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) [Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## More All things quotes > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [To explicate the uses of the Brain seems as difficult a task as to paint the Soul, of which it is commonly said, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-willis/to-explicate-the-uses-of-the-brain-seems-as-difficult-a-task-as-to/) [Thomas Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-willis/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [Dear God, I trust that no matter what happens in my life, it is for my highest good. And no matter what happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/dear-god-i-trust-that-no-matter-what-happens-in-my-life-it-is-for-my/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Moderation, honey, in all things but love and chocolate. That's my motto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bretton/moderation-honey-in-all-things-but-love-and-chocolate-that-s-my-motto/) [Barbara Bretton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bretton/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) [James Nayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nayler/) > [What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/what-greater-weakness-can-there-be-than-not-to-know-what-is-the/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [Standing as a witness in all things means being kind in all things, being the first to say hello, being the first to smile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-d-nadauld/standing-as-a-witness-in-all-things-means-being-kind-in-all-things/) [Margaret D. 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The universal Cause, by knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-dionysius/god-does-not-possess-a-private-knowledge-of-himself-and-a-separate/) [Pope Dionysius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-dionysius/) [Browse all 2,486 All things quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-things/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The value of books is proportionate to what may be called their plasticity -- their quality of being all things to all men, of being diversely moulded by the impact of fresh forms of thought.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edith Wharton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-what-may-be-called-their/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "All things" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-what-may-be-called-their/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/edith-wharton-512_all-things_the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-w_2639911.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/edith-wharton-512_all-things_the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-w_2639911.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/edith-wharton-512_all-things_the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-w_2639911.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The value of books is proportionate to what may be called their plasticity -- their quality of being all…” — Edith Wharton", "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": "Edith Wharton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The value of books is proportionate...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-what-may-be-called-their/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-value-of-books-is-proportionate-to-what-may-be-called-their/#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 } } ] } ```