--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I read hard, or not at all; never…" description: "\"I read hard, or not at all; never skimming, never turning aside to merely inciting books; and Plato, Aristotle, Butler, Thucydides, Sterne, Jonathan Ed..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c36/frederick-william-robertson-39_atoms_i-read-hard-or-not-at-all-never-skimming_890326.png" --- # I read hard, or not at all; never skimming, never turning… ![“I read hard, or not at all; never skimming, never turning aside to merely inciting books; and Plato, Aristotle, Butler, Thucydides, Sterne, Jonathan Edwards, have passed like the iron atoms of the blood into my mental constitution.” quote by Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c36/frederick-william-robertson-39_atoms_i-read-hard-or-not-at-all-never-skimming_890326.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c36/frederick-william-robertson-39_atoms_i-read-hard-or-not-at-all-never-skimming_890326.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c36/frederick-william-robertson-39_atoms_i-read-hard-or-not-at-all-never-skimming_890326.png) > “I read hard, or not at all; never skimming, never turning aside to merely inciting books; and Plato, Aristotle, Butler, Thucydides, Sterne, Jonathan Edwards, have passed like the iron atoms of the blood into my mental constitution.” [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker values deep, serious reading of classic thinkers, seeing it as essential to shaping one's intellect. **In simple terms:** Serious reading builds a strong mind. Key Takeaway Read deeply, avoid superficiality. Themes education intellectual growth literature discipline Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic study - personal development - teaching Key Concepts philosophy classics mental formation Questions to Reflect On - How does deep reading affect personal values? - What barriers prevent thorough study? A Different Perspective Surface reading can limit understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Butlers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butlers/) [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Skimming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skimming/) ## Related quotes > [“We live and we die, but we are made of sterner stuff. The carbon atoms in our fingernails, the calcium in our bones, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-heyer-meldahl/we-live-and-we-die-but-we-are-made-of-sterner-stuff-the-carbon-atoms/) Keith Heyer Meldahl > [Master those books you have. Read them thoroughly. Bathe in them until they saturate you. Read and re-read them...digest them...a student will find that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/master-those-books-you-have-read-them-thoroughly-bathe-in-them-until-2/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Talking, is a digestive process which is absolutely essential to the mental constitution of the man who devours many books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-matthews/talking-is-a-digestive-process-which-is-absolutely-essential-to-the/) [William Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-matthews/) > [Man's respect for the imponderables varies according to his mental constitution and environment. Through certain modes of thought and training, it can be elevated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/man-s-respect-for-the-imponderables-varies-according-to-his-mental/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [In my early years I read very hard. It is a sad reflection, but a true one, that I knew almost as much at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/in-my-early-years-i-read-very-hard-it-is-a-sad-reflection-but-a-true/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“A writer learns that easy to read is hard to write ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cj-heck/a-writer-learns-that-easy-to-read-is-hard-to-write/) [CJ Heck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cj-heck/) > [I'm a bit dyslexic so I found learning to read hard. I muddled up the letters but learnt to power through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fogle/i-m-a-bit-dyslexic-so-i-found-learning-to-read-hard-i-muddled-up-the/) [Ben Fogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fogle/) > [“She wrote me a letter (Joan,1941) asking,"How can I read it?,Its so hard." I told her to start at the beginning and read as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/she-wrote-me-a-letter-joan-1941-asking-how-can-i-read-it-its-so-hard/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [(Joan,1941) She wrote me a letter asking,"How can I read it?,Its so hard." I told her to start at the beginning and read as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/joan-1941-she-wrote-me-a-letter-asking-how-can-i-read-it-its-so-hard/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [Everyone has wished for that friend who could mind read... But their hard to find nowadays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giggles/everyone-has-wished-for-that-friend-who-could-mind-read-but-their/) Giggles > [“I wanted it-like iron.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rhys/i-wanted-it-like-iron/) [Jean Rhys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rhys/) > [Now you wear your skin like iron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/townes-van-zandt/now-you-wear-your-skin-like-iron/) [Townes Van Zandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/townes-van-zandt/) > [Despair can be like an iron band constricting the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-rgen-moltmann/despair-can-be-like-an-iron-band-constricting-the-heart/) [Jürgen Moltmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-rgen-moltmann/) > [“I hate being fat. I hate the way people look at me, or don't. I hate being a joke; I hate the disorienting limbo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindy-west/i-hate-being-fat-i-hate-the-way-people-look-at-me-or-don-t-i-hate/) [Lindy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindy-west/) > [“Demons don’t like iron. Or any metal really. Leave it at that. It hurts them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-worthen/demons-don-t-like-iron-or-any-metal-really-leave-it-at-that-it-hurts/) [Johnny Worthen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-worthen/) ## More by Frederick William Robertson > [Women and God are the two rocks on which a man must either anchor or be wrecked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/women-and-god-are-the-two-rocks-on-which-a-man-must-either-anchor-or/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [By experience; by a sense of human frailty; by a perception of "the soul of goodness in things evil;" by a cheerful trust in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/by-experience-by-a-sense-of-human-frailty-by-a-perception-of-the-soul/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [This world is given as a prize for the men in earnest; and that which is true of this world is truer still of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/this-world-is-given-as-a-prize-for-the-men-in-earnest-and-that-which/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [Never does a man know the force that is in him till some mighty affliction or grief has humanized the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/never-does-a-man-know-the-force-that-is-in-him-till-some-mighty/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [In God's world, for those who are in earnest, there is no failure. 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Likewise, our brainpower may not stretch to the deepest aspects of reality. The bedrock nature of space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/a-monkey-is-unaware-that-atoms-exist-likewise-our-brainpower-may-not/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [ \[Decoding the human genome sequence\] is the most significant undertaking that we have mounted so far in an organized way in all of science.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/decoding-the-human-genome-sequence-is-the-most-significant/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Traditional nationalism cannot survive the fissioning of the atom. One world or none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/traditional-nationalism-cannot-survive-the-fissioning-of-the-atom-one/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [I am not sure why, but I have been obsessed by the Atom Bomb ever since it first happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-not-sure-why-but-i-have-been-obsessed-by-the-atom-bomb-ever/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [History is the short trudge from Adam to atom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-is-the-short-trudge-from-adam-to-atom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The dogma of the impossibility of determining the atomic constitution of substances, which until recently was advocated with such fervor by the most able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-korner/the-dogma-of-the-impossibility-of-determining-the-atomic-constitution/) Wilhelm Korner > [I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of proof that there is a future life. 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