--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Museums and bookstores should feel, I…" description: "\"Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/john-updike-396_bookstores_museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-thi_2773422.png" --- # Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant… ![“Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.” quote by John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/john-updike-396_bookstores_museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-thi_2773422.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/john-updike-396_bookstores_museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-thi_2773422.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/john-updike-396_bookstores_museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-thi_2773422.png) > “Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.” [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Spaces should be personal playgrounds where we choose our own engagements, allowing imagination to roam freely. **In simple terms:** Places should let us play and imagine. Key Takeaway Seek personal freedom in public spaces. Themes creativity play personal autonomy Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - visiting museums - browsing bookstores - creative writing - mindful wandering Key Concepts existentialism aesthetic experience Questions to Reflect On - How can you reclaim agency in shared environments? - What personal rituals make public places feel intimate? A Different Perspective Public spaces often impose subtle social expectations that limit true freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bookstores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bookstores/) [Bookstores Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bookstores-feel-3258471/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Like Vacant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-vacant-1823290/) [Lots Places](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lots-places-800890/) [Museums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/museums/) [Places Demands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/places-demands-3258472/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Vacant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vacant/) [Vacant Lots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vacant-lots-1435527/) ## Related quotes > [Whatever art offered the men and women of previous eras, what it offers our own, it seems to me, is space - a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/whatever-art-offered-the-men-and-women-of-previous-eras-what-it/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Nakata's empty inside... Do you know what it means to be completely empty? Being empty is like a vacant house. An unlocked, vacant house.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/nakata-s-empty-inside-do-you-know-what-it-means-to-be-completely/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I was an empty shell. Like a vacant house―condemned―for months I'd been utterly uninhabitable. Now I was a little improved. The front room was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/i-was-an-empty-shell-like-a-vacant-house-condemned-for-months-i-d/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [When I grew up, we played in vacant lots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archie-manning/when-i-grew-up-we-played-in-vacant-lots/) [Archie Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archie-manning/) > [The professional arsonist builds vacant lots for money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-breslin/the-professional-arsonist-builds-vacant-lots-for-money/) [Jimmy Breslin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-breslin/) > [There are no vacant lots in nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/there-are-no-vacant-lots-in-nature/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [I remember New York in the '80s as a place with vacant lots that would eventually give over to nature. Weeds would grow up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/i-remember-new-york-in-the-80s-as-a-place-with-vacant-lots-that-would/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [If in a city we had six vacant lots available to the youngsters of a certain neighborhood for playing ball, it might be "development"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/if-in-a-city-we-had-six-vacant-lots-available-to-the-youngsters-of-a/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [I'm very stodgy. I'm always looking at old photos of California and Los Angeles, knowing that what I'm looking at is now full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-ruscha/i-m-very-stodgy-i-m-always-looking-at-old-photos-of-california-and/) [Edward Ruscha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-ruscha/) > [One life is not enough for me. I want to go lots of places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-maynard/one-life-is-not-enough-for-me-i-want-to-go-lots-of-places/) [Joyce Maynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-maynard/) > [“I’ve been around for a long time, seen lots of places, and the one thing I learned was that it sometimes takes a village,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-noble/i-ve-been-around-for-a-long-time-seen-lots-of-places-and-the-one/) [Shelley Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-noble/) > [There are lots of things to do. Lots of movies to catch. Lots of places to visit... I try to bring in every real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allu-arjun/there-are-lots-of-things-to-do-lots-of-movies-to-catch-lots-of-places/) [Allu Arjun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allu-arjun/) > [There are lots of places I would love to go to in Europe and North America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nasser-hussain/there-are-lots-of-places-i-would-love-to-go-to-in-europe-and-north/) [Nasser Hussain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nasser-hussain/) > [“The world revolves like ancient women, gathering fuel in vacant lots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/the-world-revolves-like-ancient-women-gathering-fuel-in-vacant-lots/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Gods have a way of sprouting from vacant lots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dawson/gods-have-a-way-of-sprouting-from-vacant-lots/) [Robert Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dawson/) ## More by John Updike > [Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you fall off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/life-is-a-roller-coaster-you-have-your-ups-and-downs-unless-you-fall/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The New England spirit does not seek solutions in a crowd; raw light and solitariness are less dreaded than welcomed as enhancers of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-new-england-spirit-does-not-seek-solutions-in-a-crowd-raw-light/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I imagine most of that stuff on the information highway is roadkill anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-imagine-most-of-that-stuff-on-the-information-highway-is-roadkill/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Families, doing everything for each other out of imagined obligation and always getting in each other's way, what a tangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/families-doing-everything-for-each-other-out-of-imagined-obligation/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The fucking world is running out of gas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-fucking-world-is-running-out-of-gas/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The theme of old age doesn't seem to fascinate Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-theme-of-old-age-doesn-t-seem-to-fascinate-hollywood/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The mind cannot fall asleep as long as it watches itself. Only when the mind moves unwatched and becomes absorbed in images that tug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-mind-cannot-fall-asleep-as-long-as-it-watches-itself-only-when/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“it was somehow wonderful of her to be, in every detail, herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-was-somehow-wonderful-of-her-to-be-in-every-detail-herself/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and subtler ramifications…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-realer-to-us-than-any-named/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Her hair had been going gray as long as he could remember; she bundled it behind in a bun held with hairpins that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/her-hair-had-been-going-gray-as-long-as-he-could-remember-she-bundled/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Possession diminishes perception of value, immediately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/possession-diminishes-perception-of-value-immediately/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I can't bear to finish things, beyond a certain point they get heavy. There's something so dead about a finished painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-can-t-bear-to-finish-things-beyond-a-certain-point-they-get-heavy/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Some people find fall depressing, others hate spring. I've always been a spring person myself. All that growth, you can feel Nature groaning, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/some-people-find-fall-depressing-others-hate-spring-i-ve-always-been/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Explore all 592 John Updike quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## More Bookstores quotes > [A man in a bookstore buys a book on loneliness and every woman in the store hits on him. A woman buys a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/a-man-in-a-bookstore-buys-a-book-on-loneliness-and-every-woman-in-the/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“Intercourse is one thing, Intimacy is everything. Be encouraged”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-e-wagner/intercourse-is-one-thing-intimacy-is-everything-be-encouraged/) [Kerry E. Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-e-wagner/) > [Evangelical Christians and I can sit down and talk one on one about how much we love Jesus, and yet I'm not carried in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/evangelical-christians-and-i-can-sit-down-and-talk-one-on-one-about/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [We should all miss bookstores. They let you discover things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christie-hefner/we-should-all-miss-bookstores-they-let-you-discover-things/) [Christie Hefner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christie-hefner/) > [My main interest was finding boyfriends. I'd park myself in the bookstore and read with one eye on everyone coming in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/my-main-interest-was-finding-boyfriends-i-d-park-myself-in-the/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [At one time in my career, Barnes and Noble bookstores categorized my books as religious fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/at-one-time-in-my-career-barnes-and-noble-bookstores-categorized-my/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [...bookstores, libraries... they're the closest thing I have to a church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-c-hines/bookstores-libraries-they-re-the-closest-thing-i-have-to-a-church/) [Jim C. Hines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-c-hines/) > [Here, you can walk into a bookstore and pick up a Bible or Christian literature and learn. Over there, they are lucky if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/here-you-can-walk-into-a-bookstore-and-pick-up-a-bible-or-christian/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) > [In turbulent times, in times of great change, people head for the two extremes: fundamentalism and personal, spiritual experience...With no membership lists or even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-naisbitt/in-turbulent-times-in-times-of-great-change-people-head-for-the-two/) [John Naisbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-naisbitt/) > [“Judge not the value of a friend by the number of boy- or girlfriends they helped you get. But by the number of books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/judge-not-the-value-of-a-friend-by-the-number-of-boy-or-girlfriends/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Your reciept is your library card." -- On what killed the brick and mortar bookstores.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-p-naughton/your-reciept-is-your-library-card-on-what-killed-the-brick-and-mortar/) [Michael P. Naughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-p-naughton/) > [“Readership is highly dependent upon format and distribution as much as it is on content.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/readership-is-highly-dependent-upon-format-and-distribution-as-much/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [If Im in the bookstore, and I see a 700-page novel, my first thought is, Ooh, how could you cut this down to size…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-helgeland/if-im-in-the-bookstore-and-i-see-a-700-page-novel-my-first-thought-is/) [Brian Helgeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-helgeland/) > [Out of the closets and into the museums, libraries, architectural monuments, concert halls, bookstores, recording studios and film studios of the world. Everything belongs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-the-closets-and-into-the-museums-libraries-architectural/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Printed books usually outlive bookstores and the publishers who brought them out. They sit around, demanding nothing, for decades. That's one of their nicest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/printed-books-usually-outlive-bookstores-and-the-publishers-who/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) [Browse all 307 Bookstores quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bookstores/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-think-like-vacant-lots-places/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bookstores" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-think-like-vacant-lots-places/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/john-updike-396_bookstores_museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-thi_2773422.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/john-updike-396_bookstores_museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-thi_2773422.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/john-updike-396_bookstores_museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-thi_2773422.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own…” — John Updike", "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 Updike", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Museums and bookstores should feel, I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-think-like-vacant-lots-places/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/museums-and-bookstores-should-feel-i-think-like-vacant-lots-places/#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 } } ] } ```