--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I mean that the book had better make life…" description: "\"“I mean that the book had better make life better better in at least six or seven definite ways immediately. Also, there had better be somewhere in it ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/750/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-mean-that-the-book-had-better-make-lif_2217187.jpg" --- # I mean that the book had better make life better better in… ![“I mean that the book had better make life better better in at least six or seven definite ways immediately. Also, there had better be somewhere in it a method for handling fortune and chance so as to best provoke the most complicated, involved, and glorious refractions of what's possible.” quote by Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/750/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-mean-that-the-book-had-better-make-lif_2217187.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/750/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-mean-that-the-book-had-better-make-lif_2217187.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/750/jesse-ball-10640_book_i-mean-that-the-book-had-better-make-lif_2217187.jpg) > ““I mean that the book had better make life better better in at least six or seven definite ways immediately. Also, there had better be somewhere in it a method for handling fortune and chance so as to best provoke the most complicated, involved, and glorious refractions of what's possible.”” [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A book should improve life and offer ways to navigate chance, inspiring complex possibilities. **In simple terms:** Books should enrich life and guide handling uncertainty. Key Takeaway Choose works that challenge and inspire. Themes literature personal growth chance creativity Mood inspirational thought‑provoking Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - self‑help reading - creative writing classes - book clubs - personal development plans Key Concepts narrative impact philosophical inquiry possibility thinking Questions to Reflect On - What book has changed your outlook? - How do you handle uncertainty? A Different Perspective Not all books meet these high expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-better/) [Better Method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-method-3428455/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-better-948023/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Definite Ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/definite-ways-4933529/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-better/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Success in your work, the finding a better method, the better understanding that insures the better performing is hat and coat, is food and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/success-in-your-work-the-finding-a-better-method-the-better/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [At all times it is better to have a method.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/at-all-times-it-is-better-to-have-a-method/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My goal in life is not to be better than anyone else, but to be better than I used to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/my-goal-in-life-is-not-to-be-better-than-anyone-else-but-to-be-better/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [It's really hard to get a book published, even a good book, but the better the book is the better chance it has of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/it-s-really-hard-to-get-a-book-published-even-a-good-book-but-the/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Sometimes one must choose between turning the pages and move on and closing the book for a better future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercy-pheona/sometimes-one-must-choose-between-turning-the-pages-and-move-on-and/) [Mercy Pheona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercy-pheona/) > [My life has been an open book, for better or for worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-shelton/my-life-has-been-an-open-book-for-better-or-for-worse/) [Blake Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-shelton/) > [They liked the book better the more it made them cry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/they-liked-the-book-better-the-more-it-made-them-cry/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [“Hey Revision. You can be a pain but you do make Book better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buffy-andrews/hey-revision-you-can-be-a-pain-but-you-do-make-book-better/) [Buffy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buffy-andrews/) > [If I were asked what book is better than a cheap book, I should answer that there is one book better than a cheap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/if-i-were-asked-what-book-is-better-than-a-cheap-book-i-should-answer/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [I like a book better if I can't predict what's going to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-rucker/i-like-a-book-better-if-i-can-t-predict-what-s-going-to-happen/) [Rudy Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-rucker/) > [It's just my goal to deliver the best story I can, and I want to make sure each book is better than the last,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/it-s-just-my-goal-to-deliver-the-best-story-i-can-and-i-want-to-make/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [“A good book is always better the second time around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-t-acquaire/a-good-book-is-always-better-the-second-time-around/) [M.T. Acquaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-t-acquaire/) > [The book's always better than the movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/the-book-s-always-better-than-the-movie/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [A book is a better way to develop a complicated idea, or to tell a big story and to show how ideas weave in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/a-book-is-a-better-way-to-develop-a-complicated-idea-or-to-tell-a-big/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [“I sat at the bottom of the garden, and I wrote the last page of my book, and I knew that I had written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-sat-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden-and-i-wrote-the-last-page-of-my/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by Jesse Ball > [“-Lara is a weasel. I've always hated her. The only happy week I had as a child was when she fell from the roof…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/lara-is-a-weasel-i-ve-always-hated-her-the-only-happy-week-i-had-as-a/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I'd say writing is easier for me now than it once was, but I do less of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-d-say-writing-is-easier-for-me-now-than-it-once-was-but-i-do-less/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“Our knowledge about ourselves is our least reliable knowledge. Yet, so thoroughly do we ordinarily champion our own cause that it is acknowledged effective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/our-knowledge-about-ourselves-is-our-least-reliable-knowledge-yet-so/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Not that believing such things has anything to do with whether they are true. You see that, don't you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/not-that-believing-such-things-has-anything-to-do-with-whether-they/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“We are born in this cemetery, but must not despair. -Piet Soron, 1847”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/we-are-born-in-this-cemetery-but-must-not-despair-piet-soron-1847/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I have a different purpose in writing each novel. Some of them seem more similar than others, but the purposes are always different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-have-a-different-purpose-in-writing-each-novel-some-of-them-seem/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Americans are genuinely and profoundly anti-intellectual. They are especially so in their pleasure-seeking, which is epically banal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/americans-are-genuinely-and-profoundly-anti-intellectual-they-are/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [Sunday was always the best of days for being the self you had intended to be, but were not, for one reason or another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/sunday-was-always-the-best-of-days-for-being-the-self-you-had/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I don't think anything needs to happen in a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-don-t-think-anything-needs-to-happen-in-a-book/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“Can you imagine? That you can say something, offhand, and it can matter, it can really matter to someone else? Can you imagine what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/can-you-imagine-that-you-can-say-something-offhand-and-it-can-matter/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [One can't say how one behaved or why, really. Such situations, they are far more complex than any either/or proposition. It is simplistic to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/one-can-t-say-how-one-behaved-or-why-really-such-situations-they-are/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“One cultivates one's life, one's friends, one's means, one's hopes. One goes from place to place, from triumph to triumph, in search of ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/one-cultivates-one-s-life-one-s-friends-one-s-means-one-s-hopes-one/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [“The whole thing about people living on in memory is a crock of shit. The best you can do is try to remember what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/the-whole-thing-about-people-living-on-in-memory-is-a-crock-of-shit/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [That would be the death of anyone - to recognize false hopes with a certainty. One mustn't know that. If it is offered, refuse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/that-would-be-the-death-of-anyone-to-recognize-false-hopes-with-a/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) > [I believe in discovering the love that exists and then trying to understand it. Not to invent a love and try to make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ball/i-believe-in-discovering-the-love-that-exists-and-then-trying-to/) [Jesse Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) [Explore all 63 Jesse Ball quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ball/) ## 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": "“I mean that the book had better make life better better in at least six or seven definite ways immediately. 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