--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reading has always brought me pure joy. I…" description: "\"Reading has always brought me pure joy. I read to encounter new worlds and new ways of looking at the world. I read to enlarge my horizons, to gain wis..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/nancy-pearl-32577_books_reading-has-always-brought-me-pure-joy-i_592260.png" --- # Reading has always brought me pure joy. I read to… ![“Reading has always brought me pure joy. I read to encounter new worlds and new ways of looking at the world. I read to enlarge my horizons, to gain wisdom, to experience beauty, to understand myself better, and for the pure wonderment of it all. I read and marvel over how writers use language in…” quote by Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/nancy-pearl-32577_books_reading-has-always-brought-me-pure-joy-i_592260.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/nancy-pearl-32577_books_reading-has-always-brought-me-pure-joy-i_592260.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/nancy-pearl-32577_books_reading-has-always-brought-me-pure-joy-i_592260.png) > “Reading has always brought me pure joy. I read to encounter new worlds and new ways of looking at the world. I read to enlarge my horizons, to gain wisdom, to experience beauty, to understand myself better, and for the pure wonderment of it all. I read and marvel over how writers use language in ways I never thought of. I read for company, and for escape. Because I am incurably interested in the lives of other people, both friends and strangers, I read to meet myriad folks and enter their lives- for me, a way of vanquishing the “otherness” we all experience.” [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading offers joy, knowledge, empathy, and escape, connecting us to diverse lives and ideas. **In simple terms:** Reading brings joy, learning, and empathy. Key Takeaway Read to expand mind and heart. Themes joy learning empathy escape Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - education - travel through books - self‑reflection Key Concepts literature cognitive growth social connection Questions to Reflect On - What book changed your view of others? - How does reading shape your identity? A Different Perspective Reading alone may not replace real‑world experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Encounters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encounters/) [Folks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folks/) [Gains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gains/) [Horizon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horizon/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Lives of others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-of-others/) [Otherness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/otherness/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pure joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure-joy/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading Brought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-brought-4844868/) [Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger/) [Strangers Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strangers-read-4844869/) [Thought Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-read-505680/) [Understand Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-myself/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wonderment Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderment-read-4844870/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Much reading has brought upon us a learned barbarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/much-reading-has-brought-upon-us-a-learned-barbarism/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That author, however, who has thought more than he has read, read more than he has written, and written more than he has published,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/that-author-however-who-has-thought-more-than-he-has-read-read-more/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [The best books, they don’t talk about things you never thought about before. They talk about things you’d always thought about, but you didn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-wallach/the-best-books-they-don-t-talk-about-things-you-never-thought-about/) [Tommy Wallach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-wallach/) > [“Ah, he thought, for one who cannot read--or think--the Image, the physical form of Love!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/ah-he-thought-for-one-who-cannot-read-or-think-the-image-the-physical/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [A biggest mistake I made when I started doing a talk show was I thought you had to read the books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cavett/a-biggest-mistake-i-made-when-i-started-doing-a-talk-show-was-i/) [Dick Cavett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cavett/) > [Deep reading refers to a whole continuum of processes that include some of the most important things about thinking and how we connect thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryanne-wolf/deep-reading-refers-to-a-whole-continuum-of-processes-that-include/) [Maryanne Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryanne-wolf/) > [“I'm certain indeed, I think there's no doubt of it - that reading does young people much harm. It puts things into their heads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miss-grizzy/i-m-certain-indeed-i-think-there-s-no-doubt-of-it-that-reading-does/) [Miss Grizzy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miss-grizzy/) > [My work on what is called 'deep reading' explores the range of linguistic, cognitive, and affective processes that underlie not only the emergence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryanne-wolf/my-work-on-what-is-called-deep-reading-explores-the-range-of/) [Maryanne Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryanne-wolf/) > [“One glance he gave, one little smile at parting—it was but for a moment; but therein I read, or thought I read, a meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/one-glance-he-gave-one-little-smile-at-parting-it-was-but-for-a/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“What is reading, in the last analysis, but an interchange of thought between writer and reader? If the book enters the reader's mind just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/what-is-reading-in-the-last-analysis-but-an-interchange-of-thought/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“There’s a poem by Adrienne Rich I first read twenty years ago called “Splittings” that I thought of when I read your letter. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/there-s-a-poem-by-adrienne-rich-i-first-read-twenty-years-ago-called/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [Make sure the lubricant is unscented. Don't join fashionable 'schools of thought.' Read everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/make-sure-the-lubricant-is-unscented-don-t-join-fashionable-schools/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [Who knows if Shakespeare might not have thought less if he had read more?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/who-knows-if-shakespeare-might-not-have-thought-less-if-he-had-read/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [My books are better thought about than read. They're insanely dull and unreadable.But they're wonderful to talk about and think about, to dip in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-goldsmith/my-books-are-better-thought-about-than-read-they-re-insanely-dull-and/) [Kenneth Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-goldsmith/) > [ One writes such a story \[The Lord of the Rings\] not out of the leaves of trees still to be observed, nor by means… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/one-writes-such-a-story-the-lord-of-the-rings-not-out-of-the-leaves/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) ## More by Nancy Pearl > [The role of a librarian is to make sense of the world of information. If that's not a qualification for superhero-dom, what is?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/the-role-of-a-librarian-is-to-make-sense-of-the-world-of-information/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [No one should ever finish a book they're not enjoying, no matter how popular or well reviewed the book is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/no-one-should-ever-finish-a-book-they-re-not-enjoying-no-matter-how/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [“I can relate to the novelist Carrie Brown...who described herself as being 'a promiscuous reader.' I'll give almost any book a chance to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/i-can-relate-to-the-novelist-carrie-brown-who-described-herself-as/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [“Girl discovers reading, then discovers life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/girl-discovers-reading-then-discovers-life/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [I just said, 'Well, the real people performing miracles every day are librarians,' and we all laughed ourselves off our chairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/i-just-said-well-the-real-people-performing-miracles-every-day-are/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [Whenever I begin reading a new book, I am embarking on a new, uncharted journey with an unmarked destination. I never know where a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/whenever-i-begin-reading-a-new-book-i-am-embarking-on-a-new-uncharted/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [If you're 50 years old or younger, give every book about 50 pages before you decide to commit yourself to reading it, or give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/if-you-re-50-years-old-or-younger-give-every-book-about-50-pages/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [“Book lust forever!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/book-lust-forever/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [“Give a book 50 pages. When you get to the bottom of Page 50, ask yourself if you're really liking the book… And if,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/give-a-book-50-pages-when-you-get-to-the-bottom-of-page-50-ask/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [“If you still don't like a book after slogging through the first 50 pages, set it aside. If you're more than 50 years old,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/if-you-still-don-t-like-a-book-after-slogging-through-the-first-50/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [When we want a book exactly like the one we just finished reading, what we really want is to recreate that pleasurable experience--the headlong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/when-we-want-a-book-exactly-like-the-one-we-just-finished-reading/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [“To read Hotel Angeline is to celebrate how this diverse group of writers (and readers, all of them) can pool their talents and expertise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/to-read-hotel-angeline-is-to-celebrate-how-this-diverse-group-of/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [I have for a long time felt that our society is becoming more and more fractured and divisive and that you could go a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/i-have-for-a-long-time-felt-that-our-society-is-becoming-more-and/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) > [Simply adored Timothy Schaffert's The Coffins of Little Hope: the voice of Essie, the narrator, is terrific & the last line blew me away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearl/simply-adored-timothy-schaffert-s-the-coffins-of-little-hope-the/) [Nancy Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) [Explore all 15 Nancy Pearl quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearl/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Reading has always brought me pure joy. I read to encounter new worlds and new ways of looking at the world. I read to enlarge my horizons, to gain wisdom, to experience beauty, to understand myself better, and for the pure wonderment of it all. I read and marvel over how writers use language in ways I never thought of. I read for company, and for escape. 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