--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you know how to read, you have a…" description: "\"If you know how to read, you have a complete education about life, then you know how to vote within a democracy. But if you don't know how to read, you..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/ray-bradbury-75_books_if-you-know-how-to-read-you-have-a-compl_650103.jpg" --- # If you know how to read, you have a complete education… ![“If you know how to read, you have a complete education about life, then you know how to vote within a democracy. But if you don't know how to read, you don't know how to decide. That's the great thing about our country - we're a democracy of readers, and we should keep it that way.” quote by Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/ray-bradbury-75_books_if-you-know-how-to-read-you-have-a-compl_650103.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/ray-bradbury-75_books_if-you-know-how-to-read-you-have-a-compl_650103.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/ray-bradbury-75_books_if-you-know-how-to-read-you-have-a-compl_650103.jpg) > “If you know how to read, you have a complete education about life, then you know how to vote within a democracy. But if you don't know how to read, you don't know how to decide. That's the great thing about our country - we're a democracy of readers, and we should keep it that way.” [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literacy equips citizens to make informed choices, essential for a healthy democracy **In simple terms:** Reading gives you the knowledge to vote wisely Key Takeaway Promote reading education for democratic health Themes education democracy literacy Mood thoughtful urgent Type political educational When to use this quote - voting - public policy - school curricula Key Concepts civic responsibility critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can societies ensure literacy translates to informed voting? - What other skills complement reading for good citizenship? A Different Perspective Literacy alone cannot guarantee wise decisions without critical thinking ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Great things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-things/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Vote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vote/) ## Related quotes > [If you don't know, your labor unions and community organizations, there's somebody you can ask to guide you. A lot of people, especially in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolores-huerta/if-you-don-t-know-your-labor-unions-and-community-organizations-there/) [Dolores Huerta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolores-huerta/) > [The Senate just sits and waits till they find out what the president wants, so they know how to vote against him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/the-senate-just-sits-and-waits-till-they-find-out-what-the-president/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [History tells us fascists, who construed the silence of people as fear, ultimately fell. People who vote for democracy is its armour and strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-k-stalin/history-tells-us-fascists-who-construed-the-silence-of-people-as-fear/) [M. K. Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-k-stalin/) > [We need a growing middle class, not one that has been disappearing for 40 years. We need a vibrant one person-one vote democracy, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/we-need-a-growing-middle-class-not-one-that-has-been-disappearing-for/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [When people first vote for democracy, they have extremely high hopes, excessive expectations, and they're not realized. They don't instantly get richer and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/when-people-first-vote-for-democracy-they-have-extremely-high-hopes/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [In the United States, if 43 percent of eligible voters do not vote, then democracy is weakened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/in-the-united-states-if-43-percent-of-eligible-voters-do-not-vote/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I would like to say to my friends in Poland: Let's make good choices, vote for democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olga-tokarczuk/i-would-like-to-say-to-my-friends-in-poland-let-s-make-good-choices/) [Olga Tokarczuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olga-tokarczuk/) > [I really want to get the word out to people to register because of course, the more people vote, the more our democracy works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-portman/i-really-want-to-get-the-word-out-to-people-to-register-because-of/) [Natalie Portman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-portman/) > [One person, one vote' is what democracy is supposed to be about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-o-meara-sanders/one-person-one-vote-is-what-democracy-is-supposed-to-be-about/) [Jane O'Meara Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-o-meara-sanders/) > [I think if campaigners tell people the reality, people will know who to vote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagma/i-think-if-campaigners-tell-people-the-reality-people-will-know-who/) [Nagma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nagma/) > [“When people don’t know whom to vote, it is just waste of time and money.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/when-people-don-t-know-whom-to-vote-it-is-just-waste-of-time-and-money/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [I don't know how anyone could vote Republican. It's so obvious that their only interest is keeping the rich rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivian-campbell/i-don-t-know-how-anyone-could-vote-republican-it-s-so-obvious-that/) [Vivian Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivian-campbell/) > [“It doesn't take a PhD in Statistics to know that your one vote doesn't count!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-schmoyer/it-doesn-t-take-a-phd-in-statistics-to-know-that-your-one-vote-doesn/) Rick Schmoyer > [“Well, in San Francisco if someone's against you, they know how to vote you out of an area. If someone's against you in Louisiana,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-j-gaines/well-in-san-francisco-if-someone-s-against-you-they-know-how-to-vote/) [Ernest J. Gaines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-j-gaines/) > [Black Fergusonians have shown that they will vote when they have something to vote for and know that their vote will count. Seventy-six percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perlstein/black-fergusonians-have-shown-that-they-will-vote-when-they-have/) [Rick Perlstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perlstein/) ## More by Ray Bradbury > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" He laughed. "That's against the law!" "Oh. Of course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/do-you-ever-read-any-of-the-books-you-burn-he-laughed-that-s-against/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [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/) > [We were put here as witnesses to the miracle of life. We see the stars, and we want them. 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It’s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-can-t-learn-to-write-in-college-it-s-a-very-bad-place-for-writers/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We're going to become the martians when we land there. When we explore and build communities, we become the martians. That's a wonderful destiny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-re-going-to-become-the-martians-when-we-land-there-when-we-explore/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. ... I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/i-wish-you-a-wrestling-match-with-your-creative-muse-that-will-last-a/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [The library is the biggest cracker box factory in the world. The more you eat, the more you want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-library-is-the-biggest-cracker-box-factory-in-the-world-the-more/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-travel-for-romance-we-travel-for-architecture-and-we-travel-to-be/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I spent three days a week for 10 years educating myself in the public library, and it's better than college. People should educate themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/i-spent-three-days-a-week-for-10-years-educating-myself-in-the-public/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [If we try to deny the darkness in our souls then we'll become completely dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/if-we-try-to-deny-the-darkness-in-our-souls-then-we-ll-become/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/but-remember-that-the-captain-belongs-to-the-most-dangerous-enemy-to/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) [Explore all 1,520 Ray Bradbury quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) ## 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. 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