--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The reason to read Blake and Dickinson…" description: "\"“The reason to read Blake and Dickinson and Freud and Dickens is not to become more cultivated or more articulate... The best reason to read them is to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/mark-edmundson-35432_reason-read_the-reason-to-read-blake-and-dickinson-a_2762791.jpg" --- # The reason to read Blake and Dickinson and Freud and… ![“The reason to read Blake and Dickinson and Freud and Dickens is not to become more cultivated or more articulate... The best reason to read them is to see if they may know you better than you know yourself. You may find your own suppressed and rejected thoughts flowing back to you with an…” quote by Mark Edmundson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/mark-edmundson-35432_reason-read_the-reason-to-read-blake-and-dickinson-a_2762791.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/mark-edmundson-35432_reason-read_the-reason-to-read-blake-and-dickinson-a_2762791.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/mark-edmundson-35432_reason-read_the-reason-to-read-blake-and-dickinson-a_2762791.jpg) > ““The reason to read Blake and Dickinson and Freud and Dickens is not to become more cultivated or more articulate... The best reason to read them is to see if they may know you better than you know yourself. You may find your own suppressed and rejected thoughts flowing back to you with an "alienated majesty”” [Mark Edmundson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-edmundson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading reveals hidden parts of ourselves, offering deeper self‑knowledge than self‑reflection alone. **In simple terms:** Books help you discover unknown aspects of yourself. Key Takeaway Read to uncover suppressed thoughts and feelings. Themes reading self‑discovery psychology Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - therapy - personal development - book clubs Key Concepts literary criticism psychoanalysis Questions to Reflect On - What parts of yourself have you recognized in a book? - How does this insight affect your life? A Different Perspective May lead to over‑identification with characters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Read Blake or go to hell, that's my message to the modern world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/read-blake-or-go-to-hell-that-s-my-message-to-the-modern-world/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [Reading is professionally important for me to keep tuned in to what's being written in my genre, let's not lie. 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Why, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/few-are-sufficiently-sensible-of-the-importance-of-that-economy-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I write for the same reason I read: because it's all there is for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-bauman/i-write-for-the-same-reason-i-read-because-it-s-all-there-is-for-me/) [Christian Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-bauman/) > [If he can give his readers no reason why they should read his book, except that the events happened to him, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/if-he-can-give-his-readers-no-reason-why-they-should-read-his-book/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [My suggestion to newspapers everywhere is to give the public a reason to read them again. So here's an idea: get on a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/my-suggestion-to-newspapers-everywhere-is-to-give-the-public-a-reason/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) > [“But the main reason you should read this is that I don't see why I should have to know all these terrible, terrible things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-strorm/but-the-main-reason-you-should-read-this-is-that-i-don-t-see-why-i/) David Strorm > [Nowadays, I know the true reason I read is to feel less alone, to make a connection with a consciousness other than my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/nowadays-i-know-the-true-reason-i-read-is-to-feel-less-alone-to-make/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I don't think I've ever googled myself. But I do read some things... 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It is being born again into a higher form of consciousness than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-edmundson/real-reading-is-reincarnation-there-is-no-other-way-to-put-it-it-is/) [Mark Edmundson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-edmundson/) > [ “The presence of God compelled human\[s\] to quest for an ideal. They had to strive for something to win God's blessing… Nietzsche feared that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-edmundson/the-presence-of-god-compelled-human-s-to-quest-for-an-ideal-they-had/) [Mark Edmundson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-edmundson/) > [“To be happily married, as I've been fortunate enough to be, is to be a partner in a conversation that can last a full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-edmundson/to-be-happily-married-as-i-ve-been-fortunate-enough-to-be-is-to-be-a/) [Mark Edmundson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-edmundson/) > [“Language, a great poem in and of itself, is all around us. 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Why, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/few-are-sufficiently-sensible-of-the-importance-of-that-economy-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nowadays, I know the true reason I read is to feel less alone, to make a connection with a consciousness other than my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/nowadays-i-know-the-true-reason-i-read-is-to-feel-less-alone-to-make/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“But the main reason you should read this is that I don't see why I should have to know all these terrible, terrible things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-strorm/but-the-main-reason-you-should-read-this-is-that-i-don-t-see-why-i/) David Strorm > [My suggestion to newspapers everywhere is to give the public a reason to read them again. So here's an idea: get on a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/my-suggestion-to-newspapers-everywhere-is-to-give-the-public-a-reason/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) > [If he can give his readers no reason why they should read his book, except that the events happened to him, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/if-he-can-give-his-readers-no-reason-why-they-should-read-his-book/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [I write for the same reason I read: because it's all there is for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-bauman/i-write-for-the-same-reason-i-read-because-it-s-all-there-is-for-me/) [Christian Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-bauman/) > [There's a reason you can still read Thucydides, and it still makes sense to you thousands of years later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-b-weiss/there-s-a-reason-you-can-still-read-thucydides-and-it-still-makes/) [D. B. Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-b-weiss/) > [“There are people who think contraception is immoral because the object of copulation is procreation. In a similar way there are people who think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-dewitt/there-are-people-who-think-contraception-is-immoral-because-the-2/) [Helen DeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-dewitt/) > [“Don’t forget the most basic reason we read: to discover what happens next. Make certain your devotion to pretty sentences and flesh-and-blood characters and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-percy/don-t-forget-the-most-basic-reason-we-read-to-discover-what-happens/) [Benjamin Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-percy/) > [I write for the same reason I read: to find out what's going to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-unger/i-write-for-the-same-reason-i-read-to-find-out-what-s-going-to-happen/) [Lisa Unger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-unger/) > [Reading is professionally important for me to keep tuned in to what's being written in my genre, let's not lie. But that's not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/reading-is-professionally-important-for-me-to-keep-tuned-in-to-what-s/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I've ever googled myself. But I do read some things... I mean, if I know that I was with an interviewer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/i-don-t-think-i-ve-ever-googled-myself-but-i-do-read-some-things-i/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) Browse all 13 Reason Read quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The reason to read Blake and Dickinson and Freud and Dickens is not to become more cultivated or more articulate... The best reason to read them is to see if they may know you better than you know yourself. 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