--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The thing about this bookshelf is that…" description: "\"“The thing about this bookshelf is that each of these books is a vast experience unto itself, while also being both self-contained and superbly useless..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba4/jonathan-lethem-1403_book_the-thing-about-this-bookshelf-is-that-e_266140.jpg" --- # The thing about this bookshelf is that each of these books… ![“The thing about this bookshelf is that each of these books is a vast experience unto itself, while also being both self-contained and superbly useless. Reading any one of them doesn't get you anywhere particularly meaningful; you haven't arrived or graduated; you've just gone and done something…” quote by Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba4/jonathan-lethem-1403_book_the-thing-about-this-bookshelf-is-that-e_266140.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba4/jonathan-lethem-1403_book_the-thing-about-this-bookshelf-is-that-e_266140.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba4/jonathan-lethem-1403_book_the-thing-about-this-bookshelf-is-that-e_266140.jpg) > ““The thing about this bookshelf is that each of these books is a vast experience unto itself, while also being both self-contained and superbly useless. Reading any one of them doesn't get you anywhere particularly meaningful; you haven't arrived or graduated; you've just gone and done something that passed the time. It's like taking a long walk with a friend who's got a lot to say. There's not cumulative purpose to it - it's just an excellent way to waste your life.”” [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## 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 be self‑contained experiences that may not lead to measurable progress but still offer value. **In simple terms:** Reading can be enjoyable without purpose. Key Takeaway Enjoy reading for its own sake. Themes literature meaninglessness leisure Mood cynical contemplative Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - vacation reading - idle afternoons - personal growth Key Concepts postmodernism nihilism Questions to Reflect On - Why read if not for growth? - Can aimful reading be both wasteful and valuable? A Different Perspective May neglect purposeful learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Bookshelf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bookshelf/) [Long Walk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-walk/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [When I was 7, my proudest possession would have been my bookshelf 'cause I had alphabetized all of the books on my bookshelf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/when-i-was-7-my-proudest-possession-would-have-been-my-bookshelf/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“A professional headshot in front of a bookshelf says you're an intellectual. A professional headshot peeking though a bookshelf says you're probably under a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-lilly/a-professional-headshot-in-front-of-a-bookshelf-says-you-re-an/) [Ryan Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-lilly/) > [Always play with the size and scale of the items on your bookshelf. Stagger the heights of books, vases, and picture frames and try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremiah-brent/always-play-with-the-size-and-scale-of-the-items-on-your-bookshelf/) [Jeremiah Brent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremiah-brent/) > [“The bookshelf in my heart holds many titles. So can yours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-mcnicoll/the-bookshelf-in-my-heart-holds-many-titles-so-can-yours/) Sylvia McNicoll > [“I am so obsessed with my life that the books I used to read are resting in the bookshelf for years and my soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neymat-khan/i-am-so-obsessed-with-my-life-that-the-books-i-used-to-read-are/) [Neymat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neymat-khan/) > [“Find room in your heart, and space on your bookshelf, for new authors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-abbott-brailey/find-room-in-your-heart-and-space-on-your-bookshelf-for-new-authors/) Richard Abbott-Brailey > [When I was 7, my proudest possession would have been my bookshelf - 'cause I'd alphabetized all of the books on my bookshelf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/when-i-was-7-my-proudest-possession-would-have-been-my-bookshelf-2/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Behind every writer stands a very large bookshelf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cronin/behind-every-writer-stands-a-very-large-bookshelf/) [Justin Cronin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cronin/) > [“And as I surveyed the clutter of his study I was pleased to see that he was a man after my own heart. 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I'm crass, but not that crass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-seinfeld/i-have-a-nice-bookshelf-in-my-office-but-not-my-house-i-m-crass-but/) [Jerry Seinfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-seinfeld/) > [“There are many books, but One holy book, the HOLY BIBLE.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita-2/there-are-many-books-but-one-holy-book-the-holy-bible/) Lailah Gifty, Akita ## More by Jonathan Lethem > [It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I've been an advocate against the view of the writer as a partitioned genius hanging in conceptual space, or up on a mountain, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-ve-been-an-advocate-against-the-view-of-the-writer-as-a-partitioned/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“I suppose there was never a reason for tearing down a cabin or scrapping a stopped automobile, if you had all those acres.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-suppose-there-was-never-a-reason-for-tearing-down-a-cabin-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Life is fundamentally up for grabs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/life-is-fundamentally-up-for-grabs/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. Always a bad sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/my-heart-to-put-it-more-simply-got-nostalgic-for-the-present-always-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [It's impossible to overstate how my relationship to music forms a preserve for the esoteric or even spiritual aspect of my relationship to cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-s-impossible-to-overstate-how-my-relationship-to-music-forms-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“If. 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Get out of the car.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/enough-of-this-does-every-conversation-with-you-have-to-be-the/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“The stumbling block will turn out to be the traditional one for students of consciousness: the flashlight is incapable of shining on itself, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/the-stumbling-block-will-turn-out-to-be-the-traditional-one-for/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“May one plead, Your Honor, postmodernism as an involuntary condition?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/may-one-plead-your-honor-postmodernism-as-an-involuntary-condition/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) [Explore all 241 Jonathan Lethem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## 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! 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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": "“The thing about this bookshelf is that each of these books is a vast experience unto itself, while also being both self-contained and superbly useless. 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