--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Books, I found, had the power to make…" description: "\"Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still, retreat or fly into the future.\" — Jim Bishop" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/jim-bishop-21544_books_books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time_1716717.png" --- # Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still… ![“Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still, retreat or fly into the future.” quote by Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/jim-bishop-21544_books_books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time_1716717.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/jim-bishop-21544_books_books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time_1716717.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/jim-bishop-21544_books_books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time_1716717.png) > “Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still, retreat or fly into the future.” [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books can make time feel frozen, escape, or propel us forward. **In simple terms:** Reading manipulates our perception of time. Key Takeaway Use reading to pause, escape, or inspire. Themes reading time imagination Mood contemplative inspirational Type literary motivational When to use this quote - relaxation - travel - future planning Key Concepts literature psychology Questions to Reflect On - When does reading become escapism? - How can books inspire future actions? A Different Perspective Overreliance on books may detach from reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [The one who can make time stand still no matter how much time has passed since you last saw him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola-http-wwwamoreloveforlifecom/the-one-who-can-make-time-stand-still-no-matter-how-much-time-has/) Kemmy Nola Http://wwwamoreloveforlifecom > [You speak and make time stand still, and each time you walk right on by...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-speak-and-make-time-stand-still-and-each-time-you-walk-right-on-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pieces of our past slowly slip away, but it's the things the make time stand still that make us sane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/pieces-of-our-past-slowly-slip-away-but-it-s-the-things-the-make-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I could make time stand still, then I know we'll live this moment forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-could-make-time-stand-still-then-i-know-we-ll-live-this-moment/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We can make the time stand still](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boys-like-girls/we-can-make-the-time-stand-still/) [Boys Like Girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boys-like-girls/) > [No court can make time stand still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/no-court-can-make-time-stand-still/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [Most history books are about power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/most-history-books-are-about-power/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [This would be...a book that would be a trapdoor down into some place dark. A place only you could go, alone, when you opened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/this-would-be-a-book-that-would-be-a-trapdoor-down-into-some-place/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [I think if a book has the power to move a reader, it also has the power to offend a reader. And you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/i-think-if-a-book-has-the-power-to-move-a-reader-it-also-has-the/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [However you look at it, in these books "power" tends to be an expression of the essential nature of the person or being whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-donaldson/however-you-look-at-it-in-these-books-power-tends-to-be-an-expression/) [Stephen R. Donaldson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-donaldson/) > [“I have a few friends who still moan that paper is the only way to read a book, but I’d rather have fifty or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-schott/i-have-a-few-friends-who-still-moan-that-paper-is-the-only-way-to/) [Terry Schott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-schott/) > [“Books are gems. Books which leaves your spine aching from sitting up all night reading them; Books whose characters live in the bright corners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-womack/books-are-gems-books-which-leaves-your-spine-aching-from-sitting-up/) Philip Womack > [Books have the power to be the light we are seeking at crucial moments in our lives. Reading helps us realize we are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gioconda-belli/books-have-the-power-to-be-the-light-we-are-seeking-at-crucial/) [Gioconda Belli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gioconda-belli/) > [“Books have the power to create, destroy or change civilizations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zaman-ali/books-have-the-power-to-create-destroy-or-change-civilizations/) [Zaman Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zaman-ali/) > [read thousands of books and I will power myself with knowledge. Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/read-thousands-of-books-and-i-will-power-myself-with-knowledge-pens/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) ## More by Jim Bishop > [It is impossible to read for pleasure from something to which you are both father and mother, born in such travail that the writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/it-is-impossible-to-read-for-pleasure-from-something-to-which-you-are/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [What makes a good writer of history is a guy who is suspicious. Suspicion marks the real difference between the man who wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/what-makes-a-good-writer-of-history-is-a-guy-who-is-suspicious/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [At 19, everything is possible and tomorrow looks friendly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/at-19-everything-is-possible-and-tomorrow-looks-friendly/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [Golf is played by twenty million mature American men whose wives think they are out having fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/golf-is-played-by-twenty-million-mature-american-men-whose-wives/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [Death is as casual and often as unexpected as birth. It is as difficult to define grief as joy. Each is finite. Each will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/death-is-as-casual-and-often-as-unexpected-as-birth-it-is-as/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [Archaeology is the peeping Tom of the sciences. It is the sandbox of men who care not where they are going; they merely want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/archaeology-is-the-peeping-tom-of-the-sciences-it-is-the-sandbox-of/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [Gimme: an agreement between two losers who can't putt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/gimme-an-agreement-between-two-losers-who-can-t-putt/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [A reporter meets interesting people. If he endures, he will get to know princes and presidents, popes and paupers, prostitutes and panderers. And always,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/a-reporter-meets-interesting-people-if-he-endures-he-will-get-to-know/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [“A friend asked what he thought of marriage, and Lincoln said quietly: “My father always said, when you make a bad bargain, hug it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/a-friend-asked-what-he-thought-of-marriage-and-lincoln-said-quietly/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/nothing-is-as-far-away-as-one-minute-ago/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [Mulligan: invented by an Irishman who wanted to hit one more twenty yard grounder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/mulligan-invented-by-an-irishman-who-wanted-to-hit-one-more-twenty/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [True love is night jasmine, a diamond in darkness, the heartbeat no cardiologist has ever heard. It is the most common of miracles, fashioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/true-love-is-night-jasmine-a-diamond-in-darkness-the-heartbeat-no/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [When you read about a car crash in which two or three youngsters are killed, do you pause to dwell on the amount of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/when-you-read-about-a-car-crash-in-which-two-or-three-youngsters-are/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [I can look at my books with pleasure from a distance. Four feet is close enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/i-can-look-at-my-books-with-pleasure-from-a-distance-four-feet-is/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [It is difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to live in the future, and impossible to live in the past. Nothing is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/it-is-difficult-to-live-in-the-present-ridiculous-to-live-in-the/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) [Explore all 29 Jim Bishop quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) ## 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. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [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/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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": "Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still, retreat or fly into the future.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jim Bishop" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time-stand-still-retreat-or-fly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time-stand-still-retreat-or-fly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/jim-bishop-21544_books_books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time_1716717.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/jim-bishop-21544_books_books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time_1716717.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e9/jim-bishop-21544_books_books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time_1716717.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still, retreat or fly into the future.” — Jim Bishop", "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": "Jim Bishop", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Books, I found, had the power...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time-stand-still-retreat-or-fly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/books-i-found-had-the-power-to-make-time-stand-still-retreat-or-fly/#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 } } ] } ```