--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I literally feel like books saved my…" description: "\"I literally feel like books saved my life. I found these people. Me reading Camus and Kafka, all of the tortured teenager stuff of someone who's fallin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/899/nathan-englander-8048_book_i-literally-feel-like-books-saved-my-lif_2098547.jpg" --- # I literally feel like books saved my life. I found these… ![“I literally feel like books saved my life. I found these people. Me reading Camus and Kafka, all of the tortured teenager stuff of someone who's falling in love with books. These people, these writers had the questions. They may not have had the answers, but they're not afraid to look at the…” quote by Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/899/nathan-englander-8048_book_i-literally-feel-like-books-saved-my-lif_2098547.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/899/nathan-englander-8048_book_i-literally-feel-like-books-saved-my-lif_2098547.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/899/nathan-englander-8048_book_i-literally-feel-like-books-saved-my-lif_2098547.jpg) > “I literally feel like books saved my life. I found these people. Me reading Camus and Kafka, all of the tortured teenager stuff of someone who's falling in love with books. These people, these writers had the questions. They may not have had the answers, but they're not afraid to look at the questions head on. It was just life-changing for me. Yeah, books, honestly, I can't even tell you. I feel saved by books; I feel like they let me be who I was and find the world I wanted to be in.” [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books provide solace, identity, and a framework for confronting existential questions, offering transformative personal growth **In simple terms:** Books rescue and shape identity Key Takeaway Embrace reading for self‑discovery Themes self‑discovery identity existential inquiry literary influence Mood reflective hopeful Type testimonial inspirational When to use this quote - Coping with adolescence - overcoming loneliness - exploring philosophy - building empathy Key Concepts Existentialism psychological resilience narrative therapy Questions to Reflect On - How have books changed your self‑perception? - What questions do you still seek answers to? A Different Perspective Reading alone may not replace real‑world experience or professional help ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Falling in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falling-in-love/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Teenager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teenager/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Then he got more books. He saved all the books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/then-he-got-more-books-he-saved-all-the-books/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [I feel like people who become writers are people who have been saved by books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-feel-like-people-who-become-writers-are-people-who-have-been-saved/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [Who can say how many lives have been saved by books?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-cliff/who-can-say-how-many-lives-have-been-saved-by-books/) [Michelle Cliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-cliff/) > [“I've always loved fixing broken things. If something fixed by myself caused a smile, I'd feel saved. In that case it would be worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiro-kiyohara/i-ve-always-loved-fixing-broken-things-if-something-fixed-by-myself/) Hiro Kiyohara > [I have talked with people that have no assurance of sins forgiven. They want to feel saved before they're willing to commit themselves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paris-reidhead/i-have-talked-with-people-that-have-no-assurance-of-sins-forgiven/) [Paris Reidhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paris-reidhead/) > [“Did anyone who was in love and was unsatisfied with how he was loved in return ever feel saved?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/did-anyone-who-was-in-love-and-was-unsatisfied-with-how-he-was-loved/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [Some books makes me want to go adventuring, others feel that they have saved me the trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/some-books-makes-me-want-to-go-adventuring-others-feel-that-they-have/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [Some books makes me want to go adventuring, others make me feel that they have saved me the trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/some-books-makes-me-want-to-go-adventuring-others-make-me-feel-that/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [I don't write or think too much about the word "salvation." I might; I probably should. We are such needy creatures, needing to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/i-don-t-write-or-think-too-much-about-the-word-salvation-i-might-i/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [My love of books was all that saved me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-love-of-books-was-all-that-saved-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When I was a child, when I was an adolescent, books saved me from despair: that convinced me that culture was the highest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/when-i-was-a-child-when-i-was-an-adolescent-books-saved-me-from/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“It was true; books had saved me in my home remodeling projects, but they fell short in teaching me how to trust my instincts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-williams/it-was-true-books-had-saved-me-in-my-home-remodeling-projects-but/) [Dee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-williams/) > [“Children built snowmen in their front lawns, played in the yard of the public library. I would miss that old library. I couldn’t realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ottessa-moshfegh/children-built-snowmen-in-their-front-lawns-played-in-the-yard-of-the/) [Ottessa Moshfegh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ottessa-moshfegh/) > [Books saved my sanity, knowledge opened the locked places in me and taught me first how to survive and then how to soar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/books-saved-my-sanity-knowledge-opened-the-locked-places-in-me-and/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [“I believed that books might save him because I knew they had so far, and because I knew the people books had saved. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-makkai/i-believed-that-books-might-save-him-because-i-knew-they-had-so-far/) [Rebecca Makkai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-makkai/) ## More by Nathan Englander > [I would drink gallons of coffee a day. Even now, off caffeine, I talk faster than anyone you've ever met. I finally recognized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-would-drink-gallons-of-coffee-a-day-even-now-off-caffeine-i-talk/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I know nobody believes in peace anymore, but what else is there to work toward? As the years have gone by, peace seems like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-know-nobody-believes-in-peace-anymore-but-what-else-is-there-to/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [“How terribly unfair that his whole self aches because of the shape of a shoulder, the soft line of a hip.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/how-terribly-unfair-that-his-whole-self-aches-because-of-the-shape-of/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I feel very lucky that I have this career that allows me to say, 'I'm ready to start now on this project,' and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-feel-very-lucky-that-i-have-this-career-that-allows-me-to-say-i-m/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [“If Z had only known in his perfectly lovely two rooms in Paris what he'd come to know in his single 6x8 block somewhere,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/if-z-had-only-known-in-his-perfectly-lovely-two-rooms-in-paris-what/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I always call myself either an optimistic pessimist or a pessimistic optimist - I'm not sure which way it goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-always-call-myself-either-an-optimistic-pessimist-or-a-pessimistic/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [Empathy is what obsesses me. And watching empathy recede in the world is terrifying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/empathy-is-what-obsesses-me-and-watching-empathy-recede-in-the-world/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [There's an Armed Forces Haggadah and an Alcoholics Anonymous Haggadah and an LGBT Haggadah. Some people make a new Haggadah every year. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/there-s-an-armed-forces-haggadah-and-an-alcoholics-anonymous-haggadah/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [Harder than waking from a nightmare was trying to wake herself into one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/harder-than-waking-from-a-nightmare-was-trying-to-wake-herself-into/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [When you see 'editor' on a book, there are many permutations of what that title can mean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/when-you-see-editor-on-a-book-there-are-many-permutations-of-what/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [So writing stories is not easier in comparison to the playwriting or translation; the stories are easier in league with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/so-writing-stories-is-not-easier-in-comparison-to-the-playwriting-or/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [The thing you start noticing as books go by, is that you become aware not only of a shape of a career, but of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/the-thing-you-start-noticing-as-books-go-by-is-that-you-become-aware/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I feel like people who become writers are people who have been saved by books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-feel-like-people-who-become-writers-are-people-who-have-been-saved/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I don't think it's the writer's job to give answers or to give opinions. In fact, when a writer has answers, I think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-don-t-think-it-s-the-writer-s-job-to-give-answers-or-to-give/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I didn't sleep the night I finished 'Sister Hills.' It was so unsettling. I felt really wild. I didn't have a clue. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-didn-t-sleep-the-night-i-finished-sister-hills-it-was-so-unsettling/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) [Explore all 84 Nathan Englander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) ## More Book 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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I literally feel like books saved my life. I found these people. Me reading Camus and Kafka, all of the tortured teenager stuff of someone who's falling in love with books. These people, these writers had the questions. They may not have had the answers, but they're not afraid to look at the questions head on. It was just life-changing for me. Yeah, books, honestly, I can't even tell you. 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