--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A book, like a landscape, is a state of…" description: "\"A book, like a landscape, is a state of consciousness varying with readers.\" — Ernest Dimnet" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c69/ernest-dimnet-22679_book_a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-co_1923449.jpg" --- # A book, like a landscape, is a state of consciousness… ![“A book, like a landscape, is a state of consciousness varying with readers.” quote by Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c69/ernest-dimnet-22679_book_a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-co_1923449.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c69/ernest-dimnet-22679_book_a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-co_1923449.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c69/ernest-dimnet-22679_book_a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-co_1923449.jpg) > “A book, like a landscape, is a state of consciousness varying with readers.” [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature reflects the reader’s mindset, changing as the reader’s consciousness evolves. **In simple terms:** Books mirror the reader’s mental state. Key Takeaway Read with awareness of your own perspective. Themes literature consciousness interpretation Mood thoughtful philosophical Type literary educational When to use this quote - book clubs - personal reflection - educational curricula Key Concepts subjectivity psychology reader response Questions to Reflect On - How does your mood affect your reading? - Can you separate author intent from personal perception? A Different Perspective Interpretations can be limited by personal bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Landscape State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape-state-2967428/) [Like Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-landscape-1221810/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/readers/) [Varying Readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/varying-readers-2967427/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Every landscape is, as it were, a state of the soul, and whoever penetrates into both is astonished to find how much likeness there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/every-landscape-is-as-it-were-a-state-of-the-soul-and-whoever/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [“The universe is a gathering of nows that I spread before my feet like a landscape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-turpin-myers/the-universe-is-a-gathering-of-nows-that-i-spread-before-my-feet-like/) [Janet Turpin Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-turpin-myers/) > [Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-like-a-landscape-you-live-in-the-midst-of-it-but-can-describe/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I like landscape, I guess. It's kind of a game to see how you can describe it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-means/i-like-landscape-i-guess-it-s-kind-of-a-game-to-see-how-you-can/) [David Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-means/) > [“It’s like the landscape is an interrupted sentence, one side dangling in the air, unfinished, and the other, a completely different subject.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/it-s-like-the-landscape-is-an-interrupted-sentence-one-side-dangling/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“Sometimes a sanctuary, sometimes a prison, that house on the hill has always been my home. I've spent my life yearning toward it, wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/sometimes-a-sanctuary-sometimes-a-prison-that-house-on-the-hill-has/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [A world without a proper day of rest is like a landscape without hedgerows, trees, or landmarks: a howling, featureless wilderness in which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hitchens/a-world-without-a-proper-day-of-rest-is-like-a-landscape-without/) [Peter Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hitchens/) > [Those old ages are like the landscape that shows best in purple distance, all verdant and smooth, and bathed in mellow light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-hubbel-chapin/those-old-ages-are-like-the-landscape-that-shows-best-in-purple/) [Edwin Hubbel Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-hubbel-chapin/) > [You like it, that's all, whether it's a landscape or abstract. You like it. It hits you. You don't have to read it. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/you-like-it-that-s-all-whether-it-s-a-landscape-or-abstract-you-like/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [Ah! In fact there are two moralities ... The petty one, the conventional one, the one devised by men, that keeps changing and bellows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/ah-in-fact-there-are-two-moralities-the-petty-one-the-conventional/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“I would describe myself like a landscape I’ve studied at length, in detail; like a word I’m coming to understand; like a pitcher I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-would-describe-myself-like-a-landscape-i-ve-studied-at-length-in/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Catherine's face was just like the landscape—shadows and sunshine flitting over it in rapid succession; but the shadows rested longer, and the sunshine was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/catherine-s-face-was-just-like-the-landscape-shadows-and-sunshine/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [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/) > [“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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“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/) ## More by Ernest Dimnet > [Americans cannot realize how many chances for mental improvement they lose by their inveterate habit of keeping six conversations when there are twelve in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/americans-cannot-realize-how-many-chances-for-mental-improvement-they/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Mankind might be divided between multitude who hate to be kept waiting because they get bored and the happy few who rather like it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/mankind-might-be-divided-between-multitude-who-hate-to-be-kept/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [The history of the past interests us only in so far as it illuminates the history of the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/the-history-of-the-past-interests-us-only-in-so-far-as-it-illuminates/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Ideas are the roots of creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/ideas-are-the-roots-of-creation/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Education is the methodical creation of the habit of thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/education-is-the-methodical-creation-of-the-habit-of-thinking/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Whatever we read from intense curiosity gives us the model of how we should always read. Plodding along page after page with an equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/whatever-we-read-from-intense-curiosity-gives-us-the-model-of-how-we/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Architecture, of all the arts, is the one which acts the most slowly, but the most surely, on the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/architecture-of-all-the-arts-is-the-one-which-acts-the-most-slowly/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [The happiness of most people we know is not ruined by great catastrophes or fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly destructive little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/the-happiness-of-most-people-we-know-is-not-ruined-by-great/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Learn to attack things frontally but according to the most scientific methods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/learn-to-attack-things-frontally-but-according-to-the-most-scientific/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Most people suspend their judgment till somebody else has expressed his own and then they repeat it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/most-people-suspend-their-judgment-till-somebody-else-has-expressed/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Prejudices subsist in people's imagination long after they have been destroyed by their experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/prejudices-subsist-in-people-s-imagination-long-after-they-have-been/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [The happiness of most people is not ruined by great catastrophes or fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly destructive little things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/the-happiness-of-most-people-is-not-ruined-by-great-catastrophes-or/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Ideas are the root of creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/ideas-are-the-root-of-creation/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [Reading, to most people, means an ashamed way of killing time disguised under a dignified name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/reading-to-most-people-means-an-ashamed-way-of-killing-time-disguised/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) > [A school is a place through which you have to pass before entering life, but where the teaching proper does not prepare you for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/a-school-is-a-place-through-which-you-have-to-pass-before-entering/) [Ernest Dimnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) [Explore all 27 Ernest Dimnet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/) ## 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": "A book, like a landscape, is a state of consciousness varying with readers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Dimnet" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-consciousness-varying-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-consciousness-varying-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c69/ernest-dimnet-22679_book_a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-co_1923449.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c69/ernest-dimnet-22679_book_a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-co_1923449.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c69/ernest-dimnet-22679_book_a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-co_1923449.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A book, like a landscape, is a state of consciousness varying with readers.” — Ernest Dimnet", "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": "Ernest Dimnet", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-dimnet/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A book, like a landscape, is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-consciousness-varying-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-dimnet/a-book-like-a-landscape-is-a-state-of-consciousness-varying-with/#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 } } ] } ```