--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I read novels for entertainment rather…" description: "\"I read novels for entertainment rather than for edification, so I tend not to read the sort of novels that are said to illuminate the human condition.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93e/richard-dawkins-115_books_i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-t_2874556.jpg" --- # I read novels for entertainment rather than for… ![“I read novels for entertainment rather than for edification, so I tend not to read the sort of novels that are said to illuminate the human condition.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93e/richard-dawkins-115_books_i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-t_2874556.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93e/richard-dawkins-115_books_i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-t_2874556.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93e/richard-dawkins-115_books_i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-t_2874556.jpg) > “I read novels for entertainment rather than for edification, so I tend not to read the sort of novels that are said to illuminate the human condition.” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading for fun can be valuable; not all literature must teach deep truths. **In simple terms:** Fun reading is okay. Key Takeaway Enjoy reading without pressure. Themes literature entertainment education Mood relaxed curious Type personal reflective When to use this quote - vacation reading - hobby - self‑education Key Concepts philosophy of art cognitive leisure Questions to Reflect On - Do you balance fun and learning? - How do you choose books? A Different Perspective Some works may miss deeper insights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Entertainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-condition/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Do you write novels?" I said. "Novels, Lord no," she said. "I can't even stay married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-houston/do-you-write-novels-i-said-novels-lord-no-she-said-i-can-t-even-stay/) [Pam Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-houston/) > [In novels, I said, people are transfigured by love. They’re elevated, made different, lifted out of their ordinariness…It’s not so much to ask, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/in-novels-i-said-people-are-transfigured-by-love-they-re-elevated/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [Sex almost always disappoints me in novels. Everything can be said or done now, and that's what I often find: everything, a feeling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/sex-almost-always-disappoints-me-in-novels-everything-can-be-said-or/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [“Speaking of novels,’ I said, ‘you remember we decided once, you, your husband and I, that Proust’s rough masterpiece was a huge, ghoulish fairy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/speaking-of-novels-i-said-you-remember-we-decided-once-you-your/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [The human condition is the human condition, and what we try to do is illuminate the human condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sissy-spacek/the-human-condition-is-the-human-condition-and-what-we-try-to-do-is/) [Sissy Spacek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sissy-spacek/) > [I have never quite understood - and this is no doubt my failing - I never quite understood why you would read fiction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-never-quite-understood-and-this-is-no-doubt-my-failing-i-never/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I think you can tell when you meet someone whether they read novels. There's some hollowness if they don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-hensher/i-think-you-can-tell-when-you-meet-someone-whether-they-read-novels/) [Philip Hensher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-hensher/) > [I don't read novels that are looking to convince me of anything. I believe that literature needs to be a machine of illusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-chejfec/i-don-t-read-novels-that-are-looking-to-convince-me-of-anything-i/) [Sergio Chejfec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-chejfec/) > [“... we read novels because they give us the comfortable sensation of living in worlds where the notion of truth is indisputable, while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/we-read-novels-because-they-give-us-the-comfortable-sensation-of/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [People lose it when I say this, but I'm a novelist who doesn't read novels. There are lots of good reasons for not reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-traviss/people-lose-it-when-i-say-this-but-i-m-a-novelist-who-doesn-t-read/) [Karen Traviss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-traviss/) > [We don't read novels to have an experience like life. Heck, we're living lives, complete with all the incompleteness. We turn to fiction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-don-t-read-novels-to-have-an-experience-like-life-heck-we-re/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [I love fiction and read novels constantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-imperioli/i-love-fiction-and-read-novels-constantly/) [Michael Imperioli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-imperioli/) > [I'd probably play games obsessively if I didn't write, although I admit I don't read novels partly because I don't enjoy it, not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-traviss/i-d-probably-play-games-obsessively-if-i-didn-t-write-although-i/) [Karen Traviss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-traviss/) > [The sad thing is that I only ever read novels in bed and now only on the iPad, and thanks to Netflix and iTunes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hewlett/the-sad-thing-is-that-i-only-ever-read-novels-in-bed-and-now-only-on/) [David Hewlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hewlett/) > [I read novels but I also read the Bible. And study it, you know? And the more I learn, the more excited I get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-cash/i-read-novels-but-i-also-read-the-bible-and-study-it-you-know-and-the/) [Johnny Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-cash/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully 'designed' to have come into existence by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-seen-that-living-things-are-too-improbable-and-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We will not go quietly away. If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## 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": "I read novels for entertainment rather than for edification, so I tend not to read the sort of novels that are said to illuminate the human condition.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Dawkins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-than-for-edification-so-i-tend/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-than-for-edification-so-i-tend/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93e/richard-dawkins-115_books_i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-t_2874556.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93e/richard-dawkins-115_books_i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-t_2874556.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93e/richard-dawkins-115_books_i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-t_2874556.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I read novels for entertainment rather than for edification, so I tend not to read the sort of novels that…” — Richard Dawkins", "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": "Richard Dawkins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I read novels for entertainment rather...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-than-for-edification-so-i-tend/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-read-novels-for-entertainment-rather-than-for-edification-so-i-tend/#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 } } ] } ```