--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Books, by their very nature and variety…" description: "\"“Books, by their very nature and variety, help us grow in empathy for others, in tolerance and awareness. But they should increase our skepticism as we..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/michael-dirda-3414_books_books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-h_214027.png" --- # Books, by their very nature and variety, help us grow in… ![“Books, by their very nature and variety, help us grow in empathy for others, in tolerance and awareness. But they should increase our skepticism as well as our humanity, for all good readers know how easy it is to misread. What counts is to stay receptive and open, to reserve judgment and try to…” quote by Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/michael-dirda-3414_books_books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-h_214027.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/michael-dirda-3414_books_books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-h_214027.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/michael-dirda-3414_books_books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-h_214027.png) > ““Books, by their very nature and variety, help us grow in empathy for others, in tolerance and awareness. But they should increase our skepticism as well as our humanity, for all good readers know how easy it is to misread. What counts is to stay receptive and open, to reserve judgment and try to foresee consequences, to avoid the facile conclusion and be ready to change one's mind.”” [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading expands empathy, tolerance, and awareness while also fostering healthy skepticism and openness to change. **In simple terms:** Books grow empathy and critical thinking. Key Takeaway Read to broaden mind and question assumptions. Themes empathy critical thinking open‑mindedness Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - book clubs - academic study - personal development Key Concepts literature cognitive growth ethical awareness Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance empathy with skepticism? - When should you question a text’s interpretation? A Different Perspective Skepticism may lead to cynicism if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Ready To Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ready-to-change/) [Skepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skepticism/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I don't think comedy really does change people's minds; I think you can only get someone who is almost ready to change their mind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jefferies/i-don-t-think-comedy-really-does-change-people-s-minds-i-think-you/) [Jim Jefferies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jefferies/) > [So you can have your program, but you also have to be ready to change it immediately because there are certain kinds of people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-ashford/so-you-can-have-your-program-but-you-also-have-to-be-ready-to-change/) [Nickolas Ashford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-ashford/) > [Being nimble and ready to change our minds if need be is an attribute that is crucial to live and thrive in a society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyamvada-natarajan/being-nimble-and-ready-to-change-our-minds-if-need-be-is-an-attribute/) [Priyamvada Natarajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyamvada-natarajan/) > [The whole cast and creative team were definitely aware of the 'This is the death of Broadway!' kind of thing about 'SpongeBob,' but we've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-slater/the-whole-cast-and-creative-team-were-definitely-aware-of-the-this-is/) [Ethan Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-slater/) > [“I think it is something else. I think we were given a starting point, but nothing more. The future remains undecided. Things may change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-brooks/i-think-it-is-something-else-i-think-we-were-given-a-starting-point/) [Terry Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-brooks/) > [“We danced to John Michael Montgomery’s “I Swear.” We cut the seven-tiered cake, electing not to take the smear-it-on-our-faces route. We visited and laughed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/we-danced-to-john-michael-montgomery-s-i-swear-we-cut-the-seven/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [There are times when I think that the ideal library is composed solely of reference books. They are like understanding friends-always ready to meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-j-adams/there-are-times-when-i-think-that-the-ideal-library-is-composed/) Donald J Adams > [All men are by nature conservative but conservatism in the military profession is a source of danger to the country. One must be ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hyman-rickover/all-men-are-by-nature-conservative-but-conservatism-in-the-military/) [Hyman Rickover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hyman-rickover/) > [You are not crazy. You are just ready to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nnedi-okorafor/you-are-not-crazy-you-are-just-ready-to-change/) [Nnedi Okorafor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nnedi-okorafor/) > [Its not that some peoples have will power and some dont its that Some people are ready to change and others are not](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-not-that-some-peoples-have-will-power-and-some-dont-its-that-some/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You can't change unless you're ready to change. J.L](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/you-can-t-change-unless-you-re-ready-to-change-j-l/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [“Common man does not speculate about the great problems. With regard to them he relies upon other people's authority, he behaves as "every decent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/common-man-does-not-speculate-about-the-great-problems-with-regard-to/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [“Only if you are reaady to change yourself can you be ready to change the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edit-schlaffer/only-if-you-are-reaady-to-change-yourself-can-you-be-ready-to-change/) Edit Schlaffer > [I think that's what's important, to see how we ourselves can become all that we are and can be. Everybody says they want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/surya-das/i-think-that-s-what-s-important-to-see-how-we-ourselves-can-become/) [Surya Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/surya-das/) > [“I knew you're a God of love. You're always ready to change your mind about punishing people.” -Jonah”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-partner/i-knew-you-re-a-god-of-love-you-re-always-ready-to-change-your-mind/) [Daniel Partner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-partner/) ## More by Michael Dirda > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [I sometimes lie awake at night and try to imagine what would be the best period in history to spend one's seventy-odd years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-sometimes-lie-awake-at-night-and-try-to-imagine-what-would-be-the/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [To my mind, 'Dear Brutus' stands halfway between Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's 'Into the Woods'. Like them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/to-my-mind-dear-brutus-stands-halfway-between-shakespeare-s-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [The goal of a just society should be to provide satisfying work with a living wage to all its citizens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/the-goal-of-a-just-society-should-be-to-provide-satisfying-work-with/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [Most lyric poetry is about love, whether yearned after, fulfilled, or wistfully regretted; what isn't tends to consist of laments and cris du coeur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/most-lyric-poetry-is-about-love-whether-yearned-after-fulfilled-or/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [My gift, if that's not too grandiose a term, is one for describing novels, biographies, and works of history in such a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/my-gift-if-that-s-not-too-grandiose-a-term-is-one-for-describing/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [Once we know the plot and its surprises, we can appreciate a book's artistry without the usual confusion and sap flow of emotion, content…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/once-we-know-the-plot-and-its-surprises-we-can-appreciate-a-book-s/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [My wife tells me I should check out 'Downton Abbey', but I gather that series might be almost too intense for my temperate nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/my-wife-tells-me-i-should-check-out-downton-abbey-but-i-gather-that/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [A reviewer's lot is not always an easy one. I can remember flogging myself to finish Harold Brodkey's 'The Runaway Soul' despite the novel's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/a-reviewer-s-lot-is-not-always-an-easy-one-i-can-remember-flogging/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [I once read that in vaudeville, it was often the straight guy who got paid more than the comic because that's the tougher job.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-once-read-that-in-vaudeville-it-was-often-the-straight-guy-who-got/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [From the late 19th to the early 20th century, the December issue of almost any general-interest magazine regularly featured a holiday horror or two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/from-the-late-19th-to-the-early-20th-century-the-december-issue-of/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [Neither my mom nor my dad ever bought me any comic books. Certainly not for Christmas. I suspect that doing so would have violated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/neither-my-mom-nor-my-dad-ever-bought-me-any-comic-books-certainly/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [For me, the two weeks between Christmas and Twelfth Night have come to be reserved for desultory reading. The pressure of the holiday is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/for-me-the-two-weeks-between-christmas-and-twelfth-night-have-come-to/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [I've always liked an easygoing, colloquial style. I like the kind of reviewer who is essentially a fellow reader, an enthusiast, a fan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-ve-always-liked-an-easygoing-colloquial-style-i-like-the-kind-of/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [In 1911, Edgar Rice Burroughs, having failed at everything else, decided to write a novel. He was then in his mid-thirties, married with two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/in-1911-edgar-rice-burroughs-having-failed-at-everything-else-decided/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) [Explore all 131 Michael Dirda quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) ## 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! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Books, by their very nature and variety, help us grow in empathy for others, in tolerance and awareness. But they should increase our skepticism as well as our humanity, for all good readers know how easy it is to misread. What counts is to stay receptive and open, to reserve judgment and try to foresee consequences, to avoid the facile conclusion and be ready to change one's mind.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Dirda" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-help-us-grow-in-empathy-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-help-us-grow-in-empathy-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/michael-dirda-3414_books_books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-h_214027.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/michael-dirda-3414_books_books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-h_214027.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f67/michael-dirda-3414_books_books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-h_214027.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Books, by their very nature and variety, help us grow in empathy for others, in tolerance and awareness. But…” — Michael Dirda", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Dirda", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Books, by their very nature and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-help-us-grow-in-empathy-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/books-by-their-very-nature-and-variety-help-us-grow-in-empathy-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```