--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't believe in being ashamed about…" description: "\"I don't believe in being ashamed about not having read things.\" — Elif Batuman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6f/elif-batuman-2172_ashamed_i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-n_722684.png" --- # I don't believe in being ashamed about not having read… ![“I don't believe in being ashamed about not having read things.” quote by Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6f/elif-batuman-2172_ashamed_i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-n_722684.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6f/elif-batuman-2172_ashamed_i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-n_722684.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6f/elif-batuman-2172_ashamed_i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-n_722684.png) > “I don't believe in being ashamed about not having read things.” [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Feeling shame for not reading certain works is unnecessary; focus on personal growth instead. **In simple terms:** No shame in unread books. Key Takeaway Embrace learning at your own pace. Themes learning self‑acceptance literature Mood encouraging thoughtful Type motivational reflective When to use this quote - education - self‑improvement - book clubs - curiosity - growth mindset Key Concepts intellectual humility personal development reading habits Questions to Reflect On - What motivates your reading choices? - How can you celebrate progress? A Different Perspective Shame can hinder curiosity; seek supportive environments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ashamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashamed/) [Being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [In Britain, it's almost as if we're ashamed of having ambition and drive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cat-deeley/in-britain-it-s-almost-as-if-we-re-ashamed-of-having-ambition-and/) [Cat Deeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cat-deeley/) > [“I felt ashamed for having been jealous of his life, considering the price he'd paid for it, and I tried to feel lucky for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/i-felt-ashamed-for-having-been-jealous-of-his-life-considering-the/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“I'm still of the same mind. For many years I've been ashamed, mortally ashamed, of having been, even with the best intentions, even at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-m-still-of-the-same-mind-for-many-years-i-ve-been-ashamed-mortally/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I follow my own nose. So I read things that are different. People will always say to me, "Have you read Robert S. Bosco's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/i-follow-my-own-nose-so-i-read-things-that-are-different-people-will/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [“you read, and the things you listen to or watch on radio or television. “Of”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-andrews/you-read-and-the-things-you-listen-to-or-watch-on-radio-or-television/) [Andy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-andrews/) > [I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time being ashamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/i-am-not-ashamed-of-my-grandparents-for-having-been-slaves-i-am-only/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [I am not myself in any degree ashamed of having changed my opinions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/i-am-not-myself-in-any-degree-ashamed-of-having-changed-my-opinions/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never. What's to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/i-have-never-been-remotely-ashamed-of-having-been-depressed-never/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [A girl, if she has any pride, is so ashamed of having anything she wishes to say out of the hearing of her own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/a-girl-if-she-has-any-pride-is-so-ashamed-of-having-anything-she/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [One of the reasons why I chose not to be a devout Christian is because a lot of people gave me a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-alba/one-of-the-reasons-why-i-chose-not-to-be-a-devout-christian-is/) [Jessica Alba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-alba/) > [“For many years I've been ashamed, mortally ashamed, of having been, even with the best intentions, even at many removes, a murderer in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/for-many-years-i-ve-been-ashamed-mortally-ashamed-of-having-been-even/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I do feel ashamed of having participated to the slightest even as a tool in those dark days. But I was obliged to serve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walther-funk/i-do-feel-ashamed-of-having-participated-to-the-slightest-even-as-a/) Walther Funk > [Reading a book and having to re-read the same paragraph over and over again because your thoughts are too distracting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit/reading-a-book-and-having-to-re-read-the-same-paragraph-over-and-over/) [AmiT](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit/) > [After having read a lot of fiction, literature, whatever you want to call it, from Wolfe to Houellebecq, I think you have to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/after-having-read-a-lot-of-fiction-literature-whatever-you-want-to/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [“The Bible is the one book we’ve most succeeded in having them never read as a book. Keep it that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-wood/the-bible-is-the-one-book-we-ve-most-succeeded-in-having-them-never/) [Geoffrey Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-wood/) ## More by Elif Batuman > [My parents were born into a secular country. They met in Turkey's top medical school, moved to America in the nineteen-seventies, and became researchers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/my-parents-were-born-into-a-secular-country-they-met-in-turkey-s-top/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“I leafed through the phrase book. If a Martian read it, the Martian would probably decide to avoid Hungary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-leafed-through-the-phrase-book-if-a-martian-read-it-the-martian/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [You can't invent something you have no epistemological access to. In a way, it's all recombination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/you-can-t-invent-something-you-have-no-epistemological-access-to-in-a/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Poetry is another space, like love, where we extend that extra credit to the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/poetry-is-another-space-like-love-where-we-extend-that-extra-credit/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Svetlana said that she identified with that Madonna more than with any other woman in any other painting. She kept asking me what painting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/svetlana-said-that-she-identified-with-that-madonna-more-than-with/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [One of the most painful parts of a breakup is having the feeling that your life is a story, and then the other person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/one-of-the-most-painful-parts-of-a-breakup-is-having-the-feeling-that/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Dracula visited the Wolf Department at the Zoological Gardens. "These wolves seem upset at something," he observed. The next morning the cage was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/dracula-visited-the-wolf-department-at-the-zoological-gardens-these/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I like to think that I know a lot of words, but I definitely don't know all of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-like-to-think-that-i-know-a-lot-of-words-but-i-definitely-don-t/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“I don't know if I ended up siding with the academics just because I happened to end up in graduate school, or if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-know-if-i-ended-up-siding-with-the-academics-just-because-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [People don't become writers because they love having spontaneous, real-world interactions with living people as bodies with clothes in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/people-don-t-become-writers-because-they-love-having-spontaneous-real/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Each work of criticism is supposed to build on the body of work, to increase the total sum of human understanding. It's not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/each-work-of-criticism-is-supposed-to-build-on-the-body-of-work-to/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Humor is really important to me. All my favorite writers are writers I consider to be funny, including Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, even though that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/humor-is-really-important-to-me-all-my-favorite-writers-are-writers-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Every time a meteor comes close to the earth, we all think about the end of the world - but our internal soundtrack doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/every-time-a-meteor-comes-close-to-the-earth-we-all-think-about-the/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I felt grateful to Ataturk that my parents were so well educated, that they weren't held back by superstition or religion, that they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-felt-grateful-to-ataturk-that-my-parents-were-so-well-educated-that/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“For a moment it felt like we weren’t in the Danube at all but in the river of time, and everyone was at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/for-a-moment-it-felt-like-we-weren-t-in-the-danube-at-all-but-in-the/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) [Explore all 182 Elif Batuman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## More Ashamed quotes > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I know what you're thinking... and you oughtta be ashamed of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-preston/i-know-what-you-re-thinking-and-you-oughtta-be-ashamed-of-yourself/) Robert Preston > [You never meet the writer when you're making a TV movie in America - they're too ashamed to show up and see how their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-don-baker/you-never-meet-the-writer-when-you-re-making-a-tv-movie-in-america/) [Joe Don Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-don-baker/) > [I'm not ashamed of the things I believe and why I believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-m-not-ashamed-of-the-things-i-believe-and-why-i-believe-them/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“with her own life. And I was ashamed.” Humiliated. Broken. Miserable. If Wilcher had stood by Jaymee, if her father hadn’t berated her, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-green/with-her-own-life-and-i-was-ashamed-humiliated-broken-miserable-if/) Stacy Green > [You should avoid hedging, at least that's what I think. You should be ashamed to die until you've made some contribution to mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-johns/you-should-avoid-hedging-at-least-that-s-what-i-think-you-should-be/) Vernon Johns > [There was no mistake in us making abortion legal and available on demand. That was what we call progress. Just like it was no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ruffalo/there-was-no-mistake-in-us-making-abortion-legal-and-available-on/) [Mark Ruffalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ruffalo/) > [“When all are undressed, one is somehow not ashamed, but when one's the only one undressed and everybody is looking, it's degrading,' he kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/when-all-are-undressed-one-is-somehow-not-ashamed-but-when-one-s-the/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [There are a great many colored people who are ashamed of the cake-walk, but I think they ought to be proud of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-weldon-johnson/there-are-a-great-many-colored-people-who-are-ashamed-of-the-cake/) [James Weldon Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-weldon-johnson/) > [I love him who is ashamed when the dice fall in his favour, and who then asketh: "Am I a dishonest player?" - for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-love-him-who-is-ashamed-when-the-dice-fall-in-his-favour-and-who/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zondervan-publishing/whoever-is-ashamed-of-me-and-my-words-the-son-of-man-will-be-ashamed/) [Zondervan Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zondervan-publishing/) > [You were never created to live depressed, defeated, guilty, condemned, ashamed or unworthy. You were created to be victorious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/you-were-never-created-to-live-depressed-defeated-guilty-condemned/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/i-never-wonder-to-see-men-wicked-but-i-often-wonder-to-see-them-not/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [“To survive during the Khmer Rouge, you had to steal, cheat, lie, point fingers at others, even kill. And now you are ashamed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-brinkley/to-survive-during-the-khmer-rouge-you-had-to-steal-cheat-lie-point/) [Joel Brinkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-brinkley/) [Browse all 1,607 Ashamed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashamed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't believe in being ashamed about not having read things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elif Batuman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-not-having-read-things/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ashamed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-not-having-read-things/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6f/elif-batuman-2172_ashamed_i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-n_722684.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6f/elif-batuman-2172_ashamed_i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-n_722684.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6f/elif-batuman-2172_ashamed_i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-n_722684.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't believe in being ashamed about not having read things.” — Elif Batuman", "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": "Elif Batuman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I don't believe in being ashamed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-not-having-read-things/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-believe-in-being-ashamed-about-not-having-read-things/#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 } } ] } ```