--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The founding of libraries was like…" description: "\"The founding of libraries was like constructing more public granaries, amassing reserves against a spiritual winter which by certain signs, in spite of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_certain_the-founding-of-libraries-was-like-const_1348727.png" --- # The founding of libraries was like constructing more… ![“The founding of libraries was like constructing more public granaries, amassing reserves against a spiritual winter which by certain signs, in spite of myself, I see ahead…” quote by Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_certain_the-founding-of-libraries-was-like-const_1348727.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_certain_the-founding-of-libraries-was-like-const_1348727.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_certain_the-founding-of-libraries-was-like-const_1348727.png) > “The founding of libraries was like constructing more public granaries, amassing reserves against a spiritual winter which by certain signs, in spite of myself, I see ahead…” [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Libraries store knowledge like food stores for winter, protecting against spiritual scarcity. **In simple terms:** Libraries are knowledge reserves for tough times. Key Takeaway Preserve and share knowledge. Themes knowledge preservation spiritual health Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - community building - personal growth - crisis preparedness Key Concepts cultural heritage information theory Questions to Reflect On - What knowledge do you need now? - How can you contribute to collective wisdom? A Different Perspective May romanticize libraries. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Founding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/founding/) [Founding Libraries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/founding-libraries-4578946/) [Libraries Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libraries-like-270507/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Like Constructing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-constructing-1433888/) [Reserves Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reserves-spiritual-4578948/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Spiritual Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-winter-4578947/) [Spite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spite/) [Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winter/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Living a life is like constructing a building: if you start wrong, you'll end wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/living-a-life-is-like-constructing-a-building-if-you-start-wrong-you/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“But to her, libraries were like hotels: secret villages inhabited by passing strangers from a thousand different worlds brought together just for a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-montefiore/but-to-her-libraries-were-like-hotels-secret-villages-inhabited-by/) [Simon Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-montefiore/) > [“Libraries—like train stations, crossroads, church belfries, and attics—are places where worlds leak together, where the Management, in its ineffable wisdom, tends not to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-polansky/libraries-like-train-stations-crossroads-church-belfries-and-attics/) [Daniel Polansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-polansky/) > [The love of libraries, like most loves, must be learned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-love-of-libraries-like-most-loves-must-be-learned/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Libraries were like a second home to me, not really a shocker given my lack of much of a social life, and I’d noticed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-k-savage/libraries-were-like-a-second-home-to-me-not-really-a-shocker-given-my/) [H.K. Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-k-savage/) > [Library-denigrators, pay heed: suggesting that the Internet is a viable substitute for libraries is like saying porn could replace your wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/library-denigrators-pay-heed-suggesting-that-the-internet-is-a-viable/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [“But I loved the library simply because it was a library. I love libraries. I like reading, but I love libraries. Being surrounded by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-wing-smith/but-i-loved-the-library-simply-because-it-was-a-library-i-love/) [Emily Wing Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-wing-smith/) > [I have spent a reasonable percentage of my life in libraries - I like the hush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-ince/i-have-spent-a-reasonable-percentage-of-my-life-in-libraries-i-like/) [Robin Ince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-ince/) > [When I discovered libraries, it was like having Christmas every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-fritz/when-i-discovered-libraries-it-was-like-having-christmas-every-day/) [Jean Fritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-fritz/) > [In a library, you can find small miracles and truth, and you might find something that will make you laugh so hard that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/in-a-library-you-can-find-small-miracles-and-truth-and-you-might-find/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [People from all over the world came to America and assimilated into a single culture rooted in the founding, which is rooted in individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/people-from-all-over-the-world-came-to-america-and-assimilated-into-a/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty, may have found an established Clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just Government instituted to secure & perpetuate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/rulers-who-wished-to-subvert-the-public-liberty-may-have-found-an/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Moses became America's true founding father because he evangelized action; he justified risk. He gave ordinary people the courage to live with uncertainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-feiler/moses-became-america-s-true-founding-father-because-he-evangelized/) [Bruce Feiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-feiler/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More by Marguerite Yourcenar > [“Any law too often subject to infraction is bad; it is the duty of the legislator to repeal or to change it, lest the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/any-law-too-often-subject-to-infraction-is-bad-it-is-the-duty-of-the/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/of-all-our-games-love-s-play-is-the-only-one-which-threatens-to/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [A book may lie dormant for fifty years or for two thousand years in a forgotten corner of a library, only to reveal, upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/a-book-may-lie-dormant-for-fifty-years-or-for-two-thousand-years-in-a/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“To eat fruit is to welcome into oneself a fair living object, which is alien to us but is nourished and protected like us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/to-eat-fruit-is-to-welcome-into-oneself-a-fair-living-object-which-is/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Everything is too far away in the past, or mysteriously too close.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/everything-is-too-far-away-in-the-past-or-mysteriously-too-close/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Writing is a perpetual choice between a thousand expressions, none of which satisfies me, none of which, above all, satisfies me without the others.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/writing-is-a-perpetual-choice-between-a-thousand-expressions-none-of/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [The landscape of my days appears to be composed, like mountainous regions, of varied materials heaped up pell-mell. There I see my nature, itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/the-landscape-of-my-days-appears-to-be-composed-like-mountainous/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [But happiness is brittle, and if men and circumstances don't destroy it, it is threatened by ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/but-happiness-is-brittle-and-if-men-and-circumstances-don-t-destroy/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [A young musician plays scales in his room and only bores his family. A beginning writer, on the other hand, sometimes has the misfortune…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/a-young-musician-plays-scales-in-his-room-and-only-bores-his-family-a/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“ A amizade é, acima de tudo, certeza - é isso o que a distingue do amor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/a-amizade-acima-de-tudo-certeza-isso-o-que-a-distingue-do-amor/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“It is not by blood, anyhow, that man's true continuity is established: Alexander's direct heir is Caesar, and not the frail infant born of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/it-is-not-by-blood-anyhow-that-man-s-true-continuity-is-established/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“Quel bel levriero... si distese sulla mia vita (Memorie di Adriano, Saeculum Aureum)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/quel-bel-levriero-si-distese-sulla-mia-vita-memorie-di-adriano/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Love is a punishment. We are punished for not having been strong enough to remain alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/love-is-a-punishment-we-are-punished-for-not-having-been-strong/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Everything turns out to be valuable that one does for one’s self without thought of profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/everything-turns-out-to-be-valuable-that-one-does-for-one-s-self/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [The world is big … May it please the One who perchance is to expand the human heart to life's full measure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/the-world-is-big-may-it-please-the-one-who-perchance-is-to-expand-the/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) [Explore all 112 Marguerite Yourcenar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) ## More Certain quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [People don't always realize that a record is forever. It'll always be there under your name. You've got to be certain that it's right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-iero/people-don-t-always-realize-that-a-record-is-forever-it-ll-always-be/) [Frank Iero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-iero/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) [Riffat Hassan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riffat-hassan/) > [I started out dancing on a reality TV show, but always with the intention of making my way over to film. I transitioned into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-hough/i-started-out-dancing-on-a-reality-tv-show-but-always-with-the/) [Julianne Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-hough/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [Why do we love certain homes, and why do they seem to love us? It is the warmth of our individual hearts reflected in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-robsjohn-gibbings/why-do-we-love-certain-homes-and-why-do-they-seem-to-love-us-it-is/) [T. H. 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