---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That life can be a rich place, comprised…"
description: "\"“That life can be a rich place, comprised of the highbrow and the lowdown, the casual and the ambitious, private reading and public sharing. As a paren..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/roger-sutton-93736_books_that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised_2789835.jpg"
---

#  That life can be a rich place, comprised of the highbrow…

![“That life can be a rich place, comprised of the highbrow and the lowdown, the casual and the ambitious, private reading and public sharing. As a parent in that landscape, you'll need to be sometimes traveling companion, sometimes guides, sometimes off in your own part of the forest. A relationship…” quote by Roger Sutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/roger-sutton-93736_books_that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised_2789835.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/roger-sutton-93736_books_that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised_2789835.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/roger-sutton-93736_books_that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised_2789835.jpg)

> ““That life can be a rich place, comprised of the highbrow and the lowdown, the casual and the ambitious, private reading and public sharing. As a parent in that landscape, you'll need to be sometimes traveling companion, sometimes guides, sometimes off in your own part of the forest. A relationship between readers is complicated and cannot be reduced to such "strategies" as mandatory reading aloud, a commendable family activity whose pleasure has been codified into virtue, transforming the nightly bedtime story into a harbinger of everybody's favorite thing: homework.””

[Roger Sutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-sutton/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Parenting involves balancing guidance and autonomy, navigating complex reading experiences

**In simple terms:** Parents must adapt roles as companions and guides

Key Takeaway

Adapt parenting style to each child's needs

Themes

family reading parenting communication balance

Mood

thoughtful supportive

Type

Books:1 Family:1 Favorite thing:0 Life:0 Money:0 Parent:1 Parenting:1 Reading:1 Reading aloud:1 Writer:0 Private Reading:1 Sharing Parent:0 Parent Landscape:1

When to use this quote

- reading aloud
- bedtime routines
- educational activities
- personal reflection

Key Concepts

developmental psychology literacy family dynamics

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you tailor reading to your child?
- When should you step back as a guide?

A Different Perspective

One-size-fits-all reading strategies may fail

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Favorite thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/favorite-thing/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parent Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent-landscape-3370790/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Private Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-reading-3370788/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading aloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-aloud/) [Sharing Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sharing-parent-3370789/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/)

## Related quotes

> [Begin each day with private reading of the Word and prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-elliot/begin-each-day-with-private-reading-of-the-word-and-prayer/)

[Jim Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-elliot/)

> [Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-jager-adams/reading-aloud-with-children-is-known-to-be-the-single-most-important/)

[Marilyn Jager Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-jager-adams/)

> [The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mem-fox/the-fire-of-literacy-is-created-by-the-emotional-sparks-between-a-2/)

[Mem Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mem-fox/)

> [“With the increased recognition that an important part of brain development occurs within the first three years of a child’s life, and that reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-the-increased-recognition-that-an-important-part-of-brain/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Reading aloud to other people is wonderful - if you have people who will suffer it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-h-k-choi/reading-aloud-to-other-people-is-wonderful-if-you-have-people-who/)

[Mary H.K. Choi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-h-k-choi/)

> [I always have music on unless I'm reading aloud, which I always do before I hand anything in. It's the only way to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-always-have-music-on-unless-i-m-reading-aloud-which-i-always-do/)

[Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/)

> [Reading aloud is the best advertisement because it works. It allows a child to sample the delights of reading and conditions him to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-trelease/reading-aloud-is-the-best-advertisement-because-it-works-it-allows-a/)

[Jim Trelease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-trelease/)

> [Live theatre for children is right up there in importance with reading aloud. It used to be part of our heritage many years ago…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-wells/live-theatre-for-children-is-right-up-there-in-importance-with/)

[Rosemary Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-wells/)

> [The mother memories that are closest to my heart are the small gentle ones that I have carried over from the days of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-sanger/the-mother-memories-that-are-closest-to-my-heart-are-the-small-gentle/)

[Margaret Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-sanger/)

> [The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading. It isn’t achieved by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mem-fox/the-fire-of-literacy-is-created-by-the-emotional-sparks-between-a/)

[Mem Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mem-fox/)

> [You could time a suburban story by your watch: it lasts as long as it takes a small furry animal that's lonely to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/you-could-time-a-suburban-story-by-your-watch-it-lasts-as-long-as-it/)

[Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/)

> [ A felon could plead "benefit of clergy" and be saved by \[reading aloud\] what was aptly enough termed the "neck verse", which was very… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/a-felon-could-plead-benefit-of-clergy-and-be-saved-by-reading-aloud/)

[William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/)

> [Sometimes when reading aloud to my husband, I'll start crying. It completely stuns me. As if the words in my body and on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/sometimes-when-reading-aloud-to-my-husband-i-ll-start-crying-it/)

[Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/)

> [Reading aloud sounds like a good idea, but honestly, it doesn't work very well. Good dialogue in a book doesn't actually bear much resemblance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/reading-aloud-sounds-like-a-good-idea-but-honestly-it-doesn-t-work/)

[Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/)

> [Love of books is the best of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-kennedy/love-of-books-is-the-best-of-all/)

[Jackie Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-kennedy/)

## More by Roger Sutton

> [“if you want to convince children of the power of books, don’t tell them stories are good. Tell them a good story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-sutton/if-you-want-to-convince-children-of-the-power-of-books-don-t-tell/)

[Roger Sutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-sutton/)

[Explore all 2 Roger Sutton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-sutton/)

## 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": "“That life can be a rich place, comprised of the highbrow and the lowdown, the casual and the ambitious, private reading and public sharing. As a parent in that landscape, you'll need to be sometimes traveling companion, sometimes guides, sometimes off in your own part of the forest. A relationship between readers is complicated and cannot be reduced to such \"strategies\" as mandatory reading aloud, a commendable family activity whose pleasure has been codified into virtue, transforming the nightly bedtime story into a harbinger of everybody's favorite thing: homework.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Roger Sutton"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-sutton/that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised-of-the-highbrow-and-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Books"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-sutton/that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised-of-the-highbrow-and-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/roger-sutton-93736_books_that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised_2789835.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/roger-sutton-93736_books_that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised_2789835.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/roger-sutton-93736_books_that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised_2789835.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“That life can be a rich place, comprised of the highbrow and the lowdown, the casual and the ambitious…” — Roger Sutton",
                "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": "Roger Sutton",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-sutton/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“That life can be a rich...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-sutton/that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised-of-the-highbrow-and-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-sutton/that-life-can-be-a-rich-place-comprised-of-the-highbrow-and-the/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
