--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The second I learned to read in first…" description: "\"The second I learned to read in first grade, when I was 5, I preferred it to life. And I still do.\" — Fran Lebowitz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/fran-lebowitz-690_books_the-second-i-learned-to-read-in-first-gr_3101508.png" --- # The second I learned to read in first grade, when I was 5… ![“The second I learned to read in first grade, when I was 5, I preferred it to life. And I still do.” quote by Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/fran-lebowitz-690_books_the-second-i-learned-to-read-in-first-gr_3101508.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/fran-lebowitz-690_books_the-second-i-learned-to-read-in-first-gr_3101508.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/fran-lebowitz-690_books_the-second-i-learned-to-read-in-first-gr_3101508.png) > “The second I learned to read in first grade, when I was 5, I preferred it to life. And I still do.” [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading became a preferred escape and source of joy from early childhood, sustaining lifelong passion. **In simple terms:** Reading offers lasting joy and escape. Key Takeaway Cultivate reading habits early. Themes literature joy escape education habit lifelong learning Mood nostalgic enthusiastic Type inspirational reflective When to use this quote - school curricula - parental encouragement - personal downtime - library programs Key Concepts personal growth cognitive development emotional comfort Questions to Reflect On - What books sparked your early love for reading? - How can we make reading appealing to reluctant readers? A Different Perspective Not everyone finds reading equally engaging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [The second I learned what college football was, what the NFL was, I said, 'I want to do that.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandin-cooks/the-second-i-learned-what-college-football-was-what-the-nfl-was-i/) [Brandin Cooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandin-cooks/) > [Now, my mom did not read well and she read 'True Romance' magazines, but she read with me. And she would spend 30 minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-dean-myers/now-my-mom-did-not-read-well-and-she-read-true-romance-magazines-but/) [Walter Dean Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-dean-myers/) > [“There is no point in having the idea for a wonderful novel if you have never learned to read and write.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-markham/there-is-no-point-in-having-the-idea-for-a-wonderful-novel-if-you/) [Ursula Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-markham/) > [I learned that if I could read, I could cook. I surprised myself I like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-learned-that-if-i-could-read-i-could-cook-i-surprised-myself-i-like/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Once we have learned to read, meaning of words can somehow register without consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/once-we-have-learned-to-read-meaning-of-words-can-somehow-register/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/you-cannot-uneducate-the-person-who-has-learned-to-read/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [I learned to read a little in my primer, to write my own name, and to cypher some in the three first rules in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davy-crockett/i-learned-to-read-a-little-in-my-primer-to-write-my-own-name-and-to/) [Davy Crockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davy-crockett/) > [Learned to read, and for a while as a kid, you think books are just leaves on trees. 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I decided to become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/for-me-before-i-learned-how-to-read-i-was-really-interested-in-story/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [The ability to read becomes devalued when what one has learned to read adds nothing of importance to one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-bettelheim/the-ability-to-read-becomes-devalued-when-what-one-has-learned-to/) [Bruno Bettelheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-bettelheim/) > [The manner in which I learned to read and write, not only had great influence on my own mind, as I acquired it with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-turner/the-manner-in-which-i-learned-to-read-and-write-not-only-had-great/) [Nat Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-turner/) > [I never learned to read music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-spinrad/i-never-learned-to-read-music/) [Norman Spinrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-spinrad/) > [“My eyes burned, and I blinked as I faced the books. "And I suppose," I said with an effort at lightness, "That it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/my-eyes-burned-and-i-blinked-as-i-faced-the-books-and-i-suppose-i/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I've always had a soft spot for comic books. I learned to read from them. The words in them were so interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/i-ve-always-had-a-soft-spot-for-comic-books-i-learned-to-read-from/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) ## More by Fran Lebowitz > [Why not have your first baby at sixty, when your husband is already dead and your career is over? Then you can really devote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/why-not-have-your-first-baby-at-sixty-when-your-husband-is-already/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [I've never had the experience of being edited and never will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-ve-never-had-the-experience-of-being-edited-and-never-will/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [I think humor is warmer, and wit is colder. Wit is judgment, whereas humor invites some sort of response.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-think-humor-is-warmer-and-wit-is-colder-wit-is-judgment-whereas/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [Communists all seem to wear small caps, a look I consider better suited to tubes of toothpaste than to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/communists-all-seem-to-wear-small-caps-a-look-i-consider-better/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [“lack, or loutish and crass kollective is a program dedicated to the proposition that vulgarity and bad taste are an inalienable right. the lackies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/lack-or-loutish-and-crass-kollective-is-a-program-dedicated-to-the/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [I figure you have the same chance of winning the lottery whether you play or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-figure-you-have-the-same-chance-of-winning-the-lottery-whether-you/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [ \[Friendships\] are easy to get out of compared to love affairs, but they are not easy to get out of compared to, say, jail. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/friendships-are-easy-to-get-out-of-compared-to-love-affairs-but-they/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [Smoking is, as far as I'm concerned, the entire point of being an adult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/smoking-is-as-far-as-i-m-concerned-the-entire-point-of-being-an-adult/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [If you want to get ahead in this world get a lawyer -- not a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/if-you-want-to-get-ahead-in-this-world-get-a-lawyer-not-a-book/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [When it comes to sports I am not particularly interested. 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In fact, I know they're not. \[The Constitution\] means that everyone should have the same laws… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-do-not-think-everyone-is-created-equal-in-fact-i-know-they-re-not/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [When I fly, I'm never afraid the plane is going to crash. But there have often been times when I was afraid it wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/when-i-fly-i-m-never-afraid-the-plane-is-going-to-crash-but-there/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [Smoking is, if not my life, then at least my hobby. I love to smoke. Smoking is fun. Smoking is cool. Smoking is, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/smoking-is-if-not-my-life-then-at-least-my-hobby-i-love-to-smoke/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) [Explore all 408 Fran Lebowitz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) ## 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. 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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": "The second I learned to read in first grade, when I was 5, I preferred it to life. 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