--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It can happen that a book, unlike its…" description: "\"It can happen that a book, unlike its authors, grows younger as the years pass.\" — John Berger" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-berger-1590_book_it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-aut_2751324.png" --- # It can happen that a book, unlike its authors, grows… ![“It can happen that a book, unlike its authors, grows younger as the years pass.” quote by John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-berger-1590_book_it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-aut_2751324.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-berger-1590_book_it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-aut_2751324.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-berger-1590_book_it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-aut_2751324.png) > “It can happen that a book, unlike its authors, grows younger as the years pass.” [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) ## 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 become more youthful as they age, resonating with new generations and fresh perspectives. **In simple terms:** Books grow younger over time, resonating anew. Key Takeaway Re‑read to discover fresh insights. Themes literature timelessness generational resonance Mood reflective nostalgic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education - book clubs - personal reading Key Concepts philosophy cultural studies Questions to Reflect On - What new meaning does the book hold for you now? - How does each reading change your perspective? A Different Perspective Interpretations may differ across ages. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authors Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authors-grows-3101648/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Grows Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows-younger-3101649/) [Happen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happen/) [Pass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pass/) [Unlike Authors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unlike-authors-3101650/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/younger/) [Younger Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/younger-years-2180035/) ## Related quotes > [Mesut Ozil, a Mario Gotze, a Mats Hummels, a Holger Badstuber, and so on - they are very mature even in their younger years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joachim-low/mesut-ozil-a-mario-gotze-a-mats-hummels-a-holger-badstuber-and-so-on/) [Joachim Low](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joachim-low/) > [I was in several Shakespeare in the Park productions in my younger years, but I've been busy with other things for a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-marvel/i-was-in-several-shakespeare-in-the-park-productions-in-my-younger/) [Elizabeth Marvel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-marvel/) > [Thinking about all your younger years and you will realize how bad and dirty you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocky/thinking-about-all-your-younger-years-and-you-will-realize-how-bad/) [Rocky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocky/) > [Franz Klammer was my great idol in my younger years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-maier/franz-klammer-was-my-great-idol-in-my-younger-years/) [Hermann Maier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-maier/) > [My younger years of modeling were really just filled with fun trips. I was doing catalogues for Alexander's and Bloomingdale's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-shields/my-younger-years-of-modeling-were-really-just-filled-with-fun-trips-i/) [Brooke Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-shields/) > [“She had developed a number of habits in her younger years, none of which carried with them a bright future, and the things she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-autumn-deering/she-had-developed-a-number-of-habits-in-her-younger-years-none-of/) [Rachel Autumn Deering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-autumn-deering/) > [Enjoy your younger years before its too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/enjoy-your-younger-years-before-its-too-late/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Alex looked so much younger than his fifteen years with”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-e-carter/alex-looked-so-much-younger-than-his-fifteen-years-with/) [Rachel E. Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-e-carter/) > [A lot of people struggle in their younger years, and I think people can relate to that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lewis/a-lot-of-people-struggle-in-their-younger-years-and-i-think-people/) [Matthew Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lewis/) > [You always pass failure on your way to success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/you-always-pass-failure-on-your-way-to-success/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [I'm an emotional eater. If something's worth celebrating, we're going to grab pizza. If it's going bad, girl, pass me the chocolate. Gotta keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurieann-gibson/i-m-an-emotional-eater-if-something-s-worth-celebrating-we-re-going/) [Laurieann Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurieann-gibson/) > [In college we didn't pass block the way they do in the pros - they played the I-formation at Wisconsin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-webster/in-college-we-didn-t-pass-block-the-way-they-do-in-the-pros-they/) [Mike Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-webster/) > [Apologies are not pass/fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-pausch/apologies-are-not-pass-fail/) [Randy Pausch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-pausch/) > [I am confident when I take the penalty otherwise I would pass for somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-fernandes/i-am-confident-when-i-take-the-penalty-otherwise-i-would-pass-for/) [Bruno Fernandes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-fernandes/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) ## More by John Berger > [When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/when-we-read-a-story-we-inhabit-it-the-covers-of-the-book-are-like-a/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [The impulse to paint comes neither from observation nor from the soul (which is probably blind) but from an encounter: the encounter between painter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/the-impulse-to-paint-comes-neither-from-observation-nor-from-the-soul/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Oil painting did to appearances what capital did to social relations. It reduced everything to the equality of objects. Everything became exchangeable because everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/oil-painting-did-to-appearances-what-capital-did-to-social-relations/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Landscapes can be deceptive. Sometimes a landscape seems to be less a setting for the life of its inhabitants than a curtain behind which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/landscapes-can-be-deceptive-sometimes-a-landscape-seems-to-be-less-a/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We live in a dominant culture of ceaseless Departure and Progress that has so far lasted two or three centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-live-in-a-dominant-culture-of-ceaseless-departure-and-progress/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [My heart born naked was swaddled in lullabies. Later alone it wore poems for clothes. Like a shirt I carried on my back the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/my-heart-born-naked-was-swaddled-in-lullabies-later-alone-it-wore/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [ There's the artist's intimacy and truthfulness to himself, but an equal intimacy to the Other \[the one drawn\]. Picasso drawings are like that... the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/there-s-the-artist-s-intimacy-and-truthfulness-to-himself-but-an/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Traditional Chinese art looked at the Earth from a Confucian mountain top; Japanese art looked closely around screens; Italian Renaissance art surveyed conquered nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/traditional-chinese-art-looked-at-the-earth-from-a-confucian-mountain/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/never-again-shall-a-single-story-be-told-as-though-it-were-the-only/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [In drawing after drawing, pastel after pastel, painting after painting, the contours of Degas's dancing figures become, at a certain point, darkly insistent, tangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/in-drawing-after-drawing-pastel-after-pastel-painting-after-painting/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-never-look-at-just-one-thing-we-are-always-looking-at-the-relation/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We can become anything. That is why injustice is impossible here. There may be the accident of birth, there is no accident of death.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-can-become-anything-that-is-why-injustice-is-impossible-here-there/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Capitalism survives by forcing the majority, whom it exploits, to define their own interests as narrowly as possible. This was once achieved by extensive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/capitalism-survives-by-forcing-the-majority-whom-it-exploits-to/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [The camera relieves us of the burden of memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/the-camera-relieves-us-of-the-burden-of-memory/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [“Today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before. We actually perceive it in a different way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/today-we-see-the-art-of-the-past-as-nobody-saw-it-before-we-actually/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) [Explore all 214 John Berger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) ## 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": "It can happen that a book, unlike its authors, grows younger as the years pass.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Berger" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-authors-grows-younger-as-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-authors-grows-younger-as-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-berger-1590_book_it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-aut_2751324.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-berger-1590_book_it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-aut_2751324.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/john-berger-1590_book_it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-aut_2751324.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It can happen that a book, unlike its authors, grows younger as the years pass.” — John Berger", "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": "John Berger", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It can happen that a book,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-authors-grows-younger-as-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/it-can-happen-that-a-book-unlike-its-authors-grows-younger-as-the/#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 } } ] } ```