--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I read less and less. I have not forgiven…" description: "\"I read less and less. I have not forgiven books for their failure to tell me the truth and make me happy.\" — Mason Cooley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bed/mason-cooley-92_books_i-read-less-and-less-i-have-not-forgiven_1458295.png" --- # I read less and less. I have not forgiven books for their… ![“I read less and less. I have not forgiven books for their failure to tell me the truth and make me happy.” quote by Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bed/mason-cooley-92_books_i-read-less-and-less-i-have-not-forgiven_1458295.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bed/mason-cooley-92_books_i-read-less-and-less-i-have-not-forgiven_1458295.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bed/mason-cooley-92_books_i-read-less-and-less-i-have-not-forgiven_1458295.png) > “I read less and less. I have not forgiven books for their failure to tell me the truth and make me happy.” [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker laments that books no longer provide truth or happiness, suggesting disappointment with literature's impact. **In simple terms:** Books fail to give truth or joy. Key Takeaway Seek truth beyond books. Themes disillusionment literature truth Mood melancholic reflective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - personal reading - educational curricula - mental health - cultural critique Key Concepts existentialism skepticism Questions to Reflect On - What do you expect books to provide? - How might you find truth elsewhere? A Different Perspective Books can still inspire; the issue may be personal expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-failure-5261805/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failure Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure-tell-4300057/) [Forgiven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiven/) [Forgiven Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiven-books-4578112/) [Forgiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiveness/) [Read Forgiven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-forgiven-5261804/) [Tell Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-truth/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > ['Caught' is a novel of forgiveness, and the past and the present - who should be and who shouldn't be forgiven. 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Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/my-intentions-go-one-way-my-desires-another-thus-i-feel-both-self/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The Puritan sours his pleasures by disguising them as duties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-puritan-sours-his-pleasures-by-disguising-them-as-duties/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/unlike-the-actual-the-fictional-explains-itself/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Vacations prove that a life of pleasure is overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/vacations-prove-that-a-life-of-pleasure-is-overrated/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Outside literature, high-flown sentiments are merely exasperating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/outside-literature-high-flown-sentiments-are-merely-exasperating/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) [Explore all 1,401 Mason Cooley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More Books 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/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [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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