--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Books don't need batteries." description: "\"“Books don't need batteries.”\" — Nadine Gordimer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/nadine-gordimer-3358_books_books-don-t-need-batteries-1110451_1110451.jpg" --- # Books don't need batteries. ![“Books don't need batteries.” quote by Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/nadine-gordimer-3358_books_books-don-t-need-batteries-1110451_1110451.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/nadine-gordimer-3358_books_books-don-t-need-batteries-1110451_1110451.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/nadine-gordimer-3358_books_books-don-t-need-batteries-1110451_1110451.jpg) > ““Books don't need batteries.”” [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books operate without needing electricity, emphasizing their timeless, self‑contained value independent of technology. **In simple terms:** Books need no batteries. Key Takeaway Value the enduring nature of reading. Themes literature technology timelessness self‑sufficiency media criticism Mood reflective nostalgic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - libraries - education - digital detox - reading habits Key Concepts materiality cultural persistence information access Questions to Reflect On - What does “no batteries” imply about reading? - How does digital media change book consumption? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overlook modern publishing realities like e‑books. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“Oh God, can I keep you? You don’t need batteries, do you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-elsborg/oh-god-can-i-keep-you-you-don-t-need-batteries-do-you/) [Barbara Elsborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-elsborg/) > [Books dont need batteries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/books-dont-need-batteries/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [There's no reason to burn books if you don't read them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/there-s-no-reason-to-burn-books-if-you-don-t-read-them/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Closed books don't open the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-malfatti/closed-books-don-t-open-the-mind/) [Jean-Paul Malfatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-malfatti/) > [I never read books - and still don't read books - to develop them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mcdormand/i-never-read-books-and-still-don-t-read-books-to-develop-them/) [Frances McDormand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mcdormand/) > [I have a very big apartment in Paris but you can't really move around there anymore; piles of books everywhere. I don't want any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-lindbergh/i-have-a-very-big-apartment-in-paris-but-you-can-t-really-move-around/) [Peter Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-lindbergh/) > [Books don't prattle. Books don't make demands. Yet they give you everything they possess. It's a very satisfying partnership.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-berg/books-don-t-prattle-books-don-t-make-demands-yet-they-give-you/) [Carol Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-berg/) > [I don't like the vampire books. I don't like any of those.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisi-harrison/i-don-t-like-the-vampire-books-i-don-t-like-any-of-those/) [Lisi Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisi-harrison/) > [My books don't seem to belong to me after I have once written them; and I find myself delivering opinions about them as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/my-books-don-t-seem-to-belong-to-me-after-i-have-once-written-them/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Books, for me, are a home. Books don’t make a home – they are one, in the sense that just as you do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/books-for-me-are-a-home-books-don-t-make-a-home-they-are-one-in-the/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Books don't offer real escape, but they can stop a mind scratching itself raw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/books-don-t-offer-real-escape-but-they-can-stop-a-mind-scratching/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Sometimes books don't find us until the right time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/sometimes-books-don-t-find-us-until-the-right-time/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [“I like books. I don't read them. But I like them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-like-books-i-don-t-read-them-but-i-like-them/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [There's more fiction in my life than in books, so I don't bother with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-harris/there-s-more-fiction-in-my-life-than-in-books-so-i-don-t-bother-with/) [Richard Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-harris/) > [“If you don't read books, and if you don't get consumed by the physical and moral life of men and women in fiction and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-denby/if-you-don-t-read-books-and-if-you-don-t-get-consumed-by-the-physical/) [David Denby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-denby/) ## More by Nadine Gordimer > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [The facts are always less than what really happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/the-facts-are-always-less-than-what-really-happened/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“Death's the discarder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/death-s-the-discarder/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [It was a miracle; it was all a miracle: and one ought to have known, from the sufferings of saints, that miracles are horror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/it-was-a-miracle-it-was-all-a-miracle-and-one-ought-to-have-known/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Mostly I'm interviewed by white people, and identified with white society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/mostly-i-m-interviewed-by-white-people-and-identified-with-white/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“I would be guilty only if I were innocent of working to destroy racism in my country.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-would-be-guilty-only-if-i-were-innocent-of-working-to-destroy/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“Death is really the mystery of life, isn't it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/death-is-really-the-mystery-of-life-isn-t-it/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Sincerity is never having an idea of oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/sincerity-is-never-having-an-idea-of-oneself/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“you like to have some cup of tea?-July bent at the doorway and began that day for them as his kind has always done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/you-like-to-have-some-cup-of-tea-july-bent-at-the-doorway-and-began/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Afrikaner women are lower than rats, closer related to plants, just fit enough to be raped in an act of genus preservation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/afrikaner-women-are-lower-than-rats-closer-related-to-plants-just-fit/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [The country of the tourist pamphlet always is another country, an embarrassing abstraction of the desirable that, thank God, does not exist on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/the-country-of-the-tourist-pamphlet-always-is-another-country-an/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Well, you know, in the fundamentalist milieu of the Afrikaners, there was a sense that they were a chosen people, that they were bringing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/well-you-know-in-the-fundamentalist-milieu-of-the-afrikaners-there/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Sentiment is for those who don't know what to do next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/sentiment-is-for-those-who-don-t-know-what-to-do-next/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Success sometimes may be defined as a disaster put on hold. Qualified. Has to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/success-sometimes-may-be-defined-as-a-disaster-put-on-hold-qualified/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) [Explore all 131 Nadine Gordimer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) ## More Batteries quotes > [I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-manning/i-once-bought-my-kids-a-set-of-batteries-for-christmas-with-a-note-on/) [Bernard Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-manning/) > [I know that spinning sets me in a trance; it soothes me and charges my batteries at the same time. When times are tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/i-know-that-spinning-sets-me-in-a-trance-it-soothes-me-and-charges-my/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [People are not like batteries - Dont plug them in, use them up and then throw them out. ~Jordan Blake Michiels~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-blake-michiels/people-are-not-like-batteries-dont-plug-them-in-use-them-up-and-then/) [Jordan Blake Michiels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-blake-michiels/) > [As for the age of electronics, Selena, I really don't want to get personal with something that comes with a warning label and batteries.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/as-for-the-age-of-electronics-selena-i-really-don-t-want-to-get/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [I'm extremely happy the lithium-ion batteries helped communications around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-b-goodenough/i-m-extremely-happy-the-lithium-ion-batteries-helped-communications/) [John B. Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-b-goodenough/) > [Give children toys that are powered by their imagination, not by batteries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-jackson-brown-jr/give-children-toys-that-are-powered-by-their-imagination-not-by/) [H. Jackson Brown, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-jackson-brown-jr/) > [What monstrous absurdities and paradoxes have resisted whole batteries of serious arguments, and then crumbled swiftly into dust before the ringing death-knell of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/what-monstrous-absurdities-and-paradoxes-have-resisted-whole/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Without vision, even the most focused passion is a battery without a device.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-auletta/without-vision-even-the-most-focused-passion-is-a-battery-without-a/) [Ken Auletta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-auletta/) > [The International Cricket Calender shouldn't be so packed with action that it drives spectators away. Also there should be enough space between cricket events…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachin-tendulkar/the-international-cricket-calender-shouldn-t-be-so-packed-with-action/) [Sachin Tendulkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachin-tendulkar/) > [I don't have a Facebook page. I don't use Twitter. I don't give anyone a lot to grab onto. Sometimes, I even take out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-suarez/i-don-t-have-a-facebook-page-i-don-t-use-twitter-i-don-t-give-anyone/) [Daniel Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-suarez/) > [That is one thing I've learned, that it is possible to really understand things at certain points, and not be able to retain them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/that-is-one-thing-i-ve-learned-that-it-is-possible-to-really/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [With a giant battery, we'd be able to address the problem of intermittency that prevents wind and solar from contributing to the grid in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-sadoway/with-a-giant-battery-we-d-be-able-to-address-the-problem-of/) [Donald Sadoway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-sadoway/) > [I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/i-ran-i-ran-until-my-muscles-burned-and-my-veins-pumped-battery-acid/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Batteries are the most dramatic object. Other things stop working or they break, But Batteries... They Die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/batteries-are-the-most-dramatic-object-other-things-stop-working-or/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [Like silence after noise, or cool, clear water on a hot, stuffy day, Emptiness cleans out the messy mind and charges up the batteries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-hoff/like-silence-after-noise-or-cool-clear-water-on-a-hot-stuffy-day/) [Benjamin Hoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-hoff/) Browse all 252 Batteries quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Books don't need batteries.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nadine Gordimer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/books-don-t-need-batteries/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Batteries" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/books-don-t-need-batteries/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/nadine-gordimer-3358_books_books-don-t-need-batteries-1110451_1110451.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/nadine-gordimer-3358_books_books-don-t-need-batteries-1110451_1110451.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/nadine-gordimer-3358_books_books-don-t-need-batteries-1110451_1110451.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Books don't need batteries.” — Nadine Gordimer", "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": "Nadine Gordimer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Books don't need batteries.”", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/books-don-t-need-batteries/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/books-don-t-need-batteries/#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 } } ] } ```