--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I run the world, librarians will be…" description: "\"When I run the world, librarians will be exempt from tragedy. Even their smaller sorrows will last only for as long as you can take out a book.\" — Kare..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/292/karen-joy-fowler-3727_book_when-i-run-the-world-librarians-will-be_863748.png" --- # When I run the world, librarians will be exempt from… ![“When I run the world, librarians will be exempt from tragedy. Even their smaller sorrows will last only for as long as you can take out a book.” quote by Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/292/karen-joy-fowler-3727_book_when-i-run-the-world-librarians-will-be_863748.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/292/karen-joy-fowler-3727_book_when-i-run-the-world-librarians-will-be_863748.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/292/karen-joy-fowler-3727_book_when-i-run-the-world-librarians-will-be_863748.png) > “When I run the world, librarians will be exempt from tragedy. Even their smaller sorrows will last only for as long as you can take out a book.” [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even in a world ruled by the speaker, librarians are spared from tragedy; their sorrow is limited to the time a book is borrowed. **In simple terms:** Librarians face only brief grief when books are taken. Key Takeaway Value the fleeting moments of loss. Themes knowledge control ephemerality Mood thoughtful ironic Type satirical philosophical When to use this quote - reading habits - information access - political satire - personal loss Key Concepts library science authoritarianism temporal limits Questions to Reflect On - How does control affect cultural memory? - What is the cost of limiting grief? A Different Perspective Even small sorrows can accumulate over time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Exempt Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exempt-tragedy-880338/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Librarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/librarian/) [Librarians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/librarians/) [Librarians Exempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/librarians-exempt-880334/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Tragedy Smaller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy-smaller-880340/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Librarians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-librarians-880336/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“When I run the world, librarians will be exempt from tragedy. 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The only thing about my pending career that was changed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-douglas/there-s-something-deep-in-the-heart-of-every-person-that-wants-to/) [Scott Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-douglas/) > [The librarian of today, and it will be true still more of the librarians of tomorrow, are not fiery dragons interposed between the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-librarian-of-today-and-it-will-be-true-still-more-of-the/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [“Thanks for being the kind of person who likes to pick up a book. That's a genuinely great thing. I met a librarian recently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-barry/thanks-for-being-the-kind-of-person-who-likes-to-pick-up-a-book-that/) [Max Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-barry/) ## More by Karen Joy Fowler > [In general, librarians enjoyed special requests. A reference librarian is someone who likes the chase. 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People know it, but they don’t mind what they don’t see.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/the-world-runs-lowell-said-on-the-fuel-of-this-endless-fathomless/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [“I didn't want a world in which I had to choose between blind human babies and tortured monkey ones. To be frank, that's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/i-didn-t-want-a-world-in-which-i-had-to-choose-between-blind-human/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [“They never reminisced about the time they had to drive halfway back to Indianapolis because I’d left Dexter Poindexter, my terry-cloth penguin (threadbare, ravaged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/they-never-reminisced-about-the-time-they-had-to-drive-halfway-back/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [I once broke up with a boy because he wrote me an awful poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/i-once-broke-up-with-a-boy-because-he-wrote-me-an-awful-poem/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [“Here is my objection to submarines and space travel: not enough windows. What difference does it make if you're in outer space or underwater,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/here-is-my-objection-to-submarines-and-space-travel-not-enough/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [. . . strange and fantastic things really happen. During a rainstorm in Australia, fish fall from the sky; several Southern states consider legislation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/strange-and-fantastic-things-really-happen-during-a-rainstorm-in/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [Every mother can easily imagine losing a child. Motherhood is always half loss anyway. 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One endured; one destroyed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/he-envied-the-bark-which-had-been-in-the-course-of-one-lifetime-both/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) [Explore all 122 Karen Joy Fowler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) ## 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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