--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I asked once, and the library assistant…" description: "\"“I asked once, and the library assistant told me there were more than a hundred thousand books there, and more than sixty million pages of documents. I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/geraldine-brooks-1324_writer_i-asked-once-and-the-library-assistant-t_2113264.png" --- # I asked once, and the library assistant told me there were… ![“I asked once, and the library assistant told me there were more than a hundred thousand books there, and more than sixty million pages of documents. It's a good number, I think: ten pages for every person who died. A kind of monument in paper for people who have no gravestones.” quote by Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/geraldine-brooks-1324_writer_i-asked-once-and-the-library-assistant-t_2113264.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/geraldine-brooks-1324_writer_i-asked-once-and-the-library-assistant-t_2113264.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/geraldine-brooks-1324_writer_i-asked-once-and-the-library-assistant-t_2113264.png) > ““I asked once, and the library assistant told me there were more than a hundred thousand books there, and more than sixty million pages of documents. It's a good number, I think: ten pages for every person who died. A kind of monument in paper for people who have no gravestones.”” [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on the vastness of recorded human knowledge and how it serves as a memorial for those without physical graves. **In simple terms:** Books act as a paper monument for the dead. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of written memory. Themes memory mortality knowledge legacy literature Mood reflective melancholic thoughtful Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - library research - genealogy - historical study - personal reflection - education Key Concepts archives commemoration human experience Questions to Reflect On - How does reading about the past shape our identity? - What responsibilities do we have to preserve these paper monuments? A Different Perspective Physical monuments are limited; digital records may be inaccessible or lost. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books Million](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-million-4276009/) [Million Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/million-pages-267027/) [Pages Documents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages-documents-2403672/) [People Gravestones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-gravestones-4276010/) [Thousand Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-books-307269/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I think what we ought to be focusing on is that we are on path for the release of 75,000 pages of documents in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-gonzales/i-think-what-we-ought-to-be-focusing-on-is-that-we-are-on-path-for/) [Alberto Gonzales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-gonzales/) > [I worked at a Books-a-Million in Louisville for several years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/i-worked-at-a-books-a-million-in-louisville-for-several-years/) [Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/) > [“Once you can write an alphabet, you can write a book of 100 million pages. 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It's almost as long as a George Clooney pre-nup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/the-new-cia-torture-report-is-6-million-pages-long-it-s-almost-as/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [I spend so much time on the Internet...I feel like I'm a million pages into the worst book ever, and I'm never going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aziz-ansari/i-spend-so-much-time-on-the-internet-i-feel-like-i-m-a-million-pages/) [Aziz Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aziz-ansari/) > [“There is no more merit in having read a thousand books than in having ploughed a thousand fields.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/there-is-no-more-merit-in-having-read-a-thousand-books-than-in-having/) [W. 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Even the most popular works fade into the shadows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mouloud-benzadi/write-as-many-books-as-you-want-but-remember-that-literature-is-never/) [Mouloud Benzadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mouloud-benzadi/) > [“An ordinary man can...surround himself with two thousand books...and thenceforward have at least one place in the world in which is is possible to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustine-birrell/an-ordinary-man-can-surround-himself-with-two-thousand-books-and/) [Augustine Birrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustine-birrell/) > [“Our house is old, and noisy, and full. when we moved into it we had two children and about five thousand books; I expect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/our-house-is-old-and-noisy-and-full-when-we-moved-into-it-we-had-two/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [My Wings are a thousand books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gill-robb-wilson/my-wings-are-a-thousand-books/) [Gill Robb Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gill-robb-wilson/) > [“Nancy carried a cardboard boxes loaded with books toward the moving van that Saturday morning. Our eyes met and we shared a smile. “You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nancy-carried-a-cardboard-boxes-loaded-with-books-toward-the-moving/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Geraldine Brooks > [“The word for mother, umm, is the root of the words for “source, nation, mercy, first principle, rich harvest; stupid, illiterate, parasite, weak of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/the-word-for-mother-umm-is-the-root-of-the-words-for-source-nation/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“The lieutenant colonel wondered if the high scores reflected a defect in the newly built shooting range at the women’s academy. To find out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/the-lieutenant-colonel-wondered-if-the-high-scores-reflected-a-defect/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“No wonder simple men have always had their gods dwell in the high places. 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So this was how it was to be, now: I would do my best to live in the quick world, but the ghosts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/so-this-was-how-it-was-to-be-now-i-would-do-my-best-to-live-in-the/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“They threw rotten fruit at me and told me next time it would be acid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/they-threw-rotten-fruit-at-me-and-told-me-next-time-it-would-be-acid/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“You," he continued, grabbing my wrist. 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Your own theologians have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/the-author-of-this-text-did-not-write-to-provoke-but-merely-to/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“So, you are happy to be a pigeon?” “Maybe so. But at least a pigeon does no harm. The hawk lives at the expense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/so-you-are-happy-to-be-a-pigeon-maybe-so-but-at-least-a-pigeon-does/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“Many men believe in the saying that educating women is like allowing the nose of the camel into the tent: eventually the beast will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/many-men-believe-in-the-saying-that-educating-women-is-like-allowing/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [“No, no,” he said. “She can’t raise it at all. She may only clap. Women must be very careful of their voices. 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