--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Were I to pray for a taste which should…" description: "\"Were I to pray for a taste which should stand me in good stead under every variety of circumstances and be a source of happiness and a cheerfulness to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b0/john-herschel-18983_book_were-i-to-pray-for-a-taste-which-should_1401728.png" --- # Were I to pray for a taste which should stand me in good… ![“Were I to pray for a taste which should stand me in good stead under every variety of circumstances and be a source of happiness and a cheerfulness to me during life and a shield against its ills, however things might go amiss and the world frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading.” quote by John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b0/john-herschel-18983_book_were-i-to-pray-for-a-taste-which-should_1401728.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b0/john-herschel-18983_book_were-i-to-pray-for-a-taste-which-should_1401728.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b0/john-herschel-18983_book_were-i-to-pray-for-a-taste-which-should_1401728.png) > “Were I to pray for a taste which should stand me in good stead under every variety of circumstances and be a source of happiness and a cheerfulness to me during life and a shield against its ills, however things might go amiss and the world frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading.” [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading provides knowledge, joy, and resilience across life's challenges. **In simple terms:** Reading gives happiness and strength. Key Takeaway Read to enrich life. Themes knowledge joy resilience Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education - career development - personal crises - social criticism Key Concepts literature personal growth comfort Questions to Reflect On - How does reading shape your worldview? - What books have steadied you? A Different Perspective Reading alone cannot solve all problems; it must be paired with action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Cheerfulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheerfulness/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Pray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pray/) [Praying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praying/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-books/) [Source of happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/source-of-happiness/) [Variety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/variety/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [A love of reading is an acquired taste, not an instinctive preference. The habit of reading is formed in childhood; and a child's taste…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clay-trumbull/a-love-of-reading-is-an-acquired-taste-not-an-instinctive-preference/) [Henry Clay Trumbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clay-trumbull/) > [“It is my prejudice against everything that turns out well that has given me a taste for reading history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-cioran-2/it-is-my-prejudice-against-everything-that-turns-out-well-that-has/) [E. M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-cioran-2/) > [A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/a-capacity-and-taste-for-reading-gives-access-to-whatever-has-already-2/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/a-capacity-and-taste-for-reading-gives-access-to-whatever-has-already/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“By having a great many friends I do not prove that I have a wide appreciation of human excellence. You might as well say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/by-having-a-great-many-friends-i-do-not-prove-that-i-have-a-wide/) [C. S. LEWIS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“You taste injustice, even if it’s fictional, really taste it,it has a way of doing that. 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Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-m-christensen/) > [It is a source of happiness to see the elderly working in their garden or looking from their windows! It is so good to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/it-is-a-source-of-happiness-to-see-the-elderly-working-in-their/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Satisfaction of one's curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-pauling/satisfaction-of-one-s-curiosity-is-one-of-the-greatest-sources-of/) [Linus Pauling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-pauling/) > [Doing what we like to do is the ultimate source of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/doing-what-we-like-to-do-is-the-ultimate-source-of-happiness/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [More compassionate mind, more sense of concern for other's well-being, is source of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/more-compassionate-mind-more-sense-of-concern-for-other-s-well-being/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) ## More by John Herschel > [Self-respect,--the corner-stone of all virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/self-respect-the-corner-stone-of-all-virtue/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [ \[When nature appears complicated:\] The moment we contemplate it as it is, and attain a position from which we can take a commanding view,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/when-nature-appears-complicated-the-moment-we-contemplate-it-as-it-is/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/music-and-dancing-the-more-the-pity-have-become-so-closely-associated/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/music-and-dancing-the-more-the-pity-have-become-so-closely-associated-2/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [The novel, in its best form, I regard as one of the most powerful engines of civilization ever invented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/the-novel-in-its-best-form-i-regard-as-one-of-the-most-powerful/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [No doubt the testimony of natural reason, on whatever exercised, must, of necessity, stop short of those truths which it is the object of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/no-doubt-the-testimony-of-natural-reason-on-whatever-exercised-must/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [The end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century were remarkable for the small amount of scientific movement going on in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/the-end-of-the-eighteenth-and-the-beginning-of-the-nineteenth-century/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Occurrences which according to received theories ought not to happen, are the facts which serve as clues to new discoveries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/occurrences-which-according-to-received-theories-ought-not-to-happen/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Almost all the greatest discoveries in astronomy have resulted from what we have elsewhere termed Residual Phenomena, of a qualitative or numerical kind, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/almost-all-the-greatest-discoveries-in-astronomy-have-resulted-from/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Accustomed to trace the operation of general causes, and the exemplification of general laws, in circumstances where the uninformed and unenquiring eye perceives neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/accustomed-to-trace-the-operation-of-general-causes-and-the/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Geology, in the magnitude and sublimity of the objects of which it treats, undoubtedly ranks, in the scale of the sciences, next to astronomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/geology-in-the-magnitude-and-sublimity-of-the-objects-of-which-it/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [Humans always have fear of an unknown situation -- this is normal. 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Second, In securing us from important mistakes in attempting what is, in itself possible, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/first-in-showing-in-how-to-avoid-attempting-impossibilities-second-in/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) > [The end of the eighteenth and the commencement of the nineteenth century are remarkable for the small amount of scientific movement going on in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-herschel/the-end-of-the-eighteenth-and-the-commencement-of-the-nineteenth/) [John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) [Explore all 33 John Herschel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-herschel/) ## 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. 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