--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was nothing so dangerous to a king…" description: "\"“There was nothing so dangerous to a king or an emperor as a book. Yes, a great library—a library as magnificent as this one—was a dangerous arsenal, o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/140/ross-king-30886_books_there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king_1514966.jpg" --- # There was nothing so dangerous to a king or an emperor as… ![“There was nothing so dangerous to a king or an emperor as a book. Yes, a great library—a library as magnificent as this one—was a dangerous arsenal, one that kings and emperors feared more than the greatest army or magazine.” quote by Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/140/ross-king-30886_books_there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king_1514966.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/140/ross-king-30886_books_there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king_1514966.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/140/ross-king-30886_books_there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king_1514966.jpg) > ““There was nothing so dangerous to a king or an emperor as a book. Yes, a great library—a library as magnificent as this one—was a dangerous arsenal, one that kings and emperors feared more than the greatest army or magazine.”” [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books hold ideas that can challenge authority, making them threatening to rulers who fear loss of control. **In simple terms:** Ideas in books can undermine power. Key Takeaway Guard knowledge, don’t suppress it. Themes knowledge power control freedom Mood thoughtful critical inquisitive Type historical political cautionary When to use this quote - education reform - library advocacy - political activism - media literacy Key Concepts censorship political authority intellectual threat Questions to Reflect On - How do societies balance free access to knowledge with political stability? - What responsibilities do readers have with powerful ideas? A Different Perspective Even with censorship, ideas can spread through other channels. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“Yes, a great library — a library as magnificent as this one — was a dangerous arsenal, one that kings and emperors feared more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/yes-a-great-library-a-library-as-magnificent-as-this-one-was-a/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [The function of a great library is to store obscure books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-function-of-a-great-library-is-to-store-obscure-books/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“My mother lived alone in the ruins of the great Library, which was called Compleat, and a very passionate and dashing Library indeed. Under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/my-mother-lived-alone-in-the-ruins-of-the-great-library-which-was/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [What harbor can receive you more securely than a great library?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/what-harbor-can-receive-you-more-securely-than-a-great-library/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [A great library contains the diary of the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-great-library-contains-the-diary-of-the-human-race/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A great library is one nobody notices because it is always there, and always has what people need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-myron/a-great-library-is-one-nobody-notices-because-it-is-always-there-and/) [Vicki Myron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-myron/) > [“The live without understanding the meaning of the world is more like a stroll in the great library of books without touching”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/the-live-without-understanding-the-meaning-of-the-world-is-more-like/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [No university in the world has ever risen to greatness without a correspondingly great library... When this is no longer true, then will our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-clark-powell/no-university-in-the-world-has-ever-risen-to-greatness-without-a/) [Lawrence Clark Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-clark-powell/) > [“I love libraries. I love books. There is something sacred, I think, about a great library because it represents the preservation of the wisdom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/i-love-libraries-i-love-books-there-is-something-sacred-i-think-about/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [A great library doesn't have to be big or beautiful. It doesn't have to have the best facilities or the most efficient staff or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-myron/a-great-library-doesn-t-have-to-be-big-or-beautiful-it-doesn-t-have/) [Vicki Myron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-myron/) > [Is there anything so delicious as the first exploration of a great library - alone - unwatched?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-jefferies/is-there-anything-so-delicious-as-the-first-exploration-of-a-great/) [Richard Jefferies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-jefferies/) > [A great library easily begets affection, which may deepen into love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustine-birrell/a-great-library-easily-begets-affection-which-may-deepen-into-love/) [Augustine Birrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustine-birrell/) > [Order and surprise: these are two intertwined elements that make for any great library or collection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/order-and-surprise-these-are-two-intertwined-elements-that-make-for/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [The fondest dream of the information age is to create an archive of all knowledge. You might call it the Alexandrian fantasy, after the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-wolf/the-fondest-dream-of-the-information-age-is-to-create-an-archive-of/) [Gary Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-wolf/) > [“In a great library, you get into society in the widest sense. . . . From that great crowd you can choose what companions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/somerset-maughn/in-a-great-library-you-get-into-society-in-the-widest-sense-from-that/) Somerset Maughn ## More by Ross King > [“A stylus was a metal-tipped drawing instrument widely used by artists before the invention of the pencil (graphite was not discovered until in 1504,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/a-stylus-was-a-metal-tipped-drawing-instrument-widely-used-by-artists/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“Quite amazing how determined kings and emperors have been to destroy books. But civilization is built on such desecrations, is it not? Justinian the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/quite-amazing-how-determined-kings-and-emperors-have-been-to-destroy/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“In fact, the figure in The Last Supper is not a woman: only the most partisan reading can place Mary Magdalene in the scene.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/in-fact-the-figure-in-the-last-supper-is-not-a-woman-only-the-most/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“…Because every ruler celebrated his conquests by setting torch to the nearest library. Did not Julius Caesar incinerate the scrolls in the great library…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/because-every-ruler-celebrated-his-conquests-by-setting-torch-to-the/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“It’s amazing — and poignant — to think that Leonardo (da Vinci)did consider himself as something of a failure. He didn’t believe that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/it-s-amazing-and-poignant-to-think-that-leonardo-da-vinci-did/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“And as I surveyed the clutter of his study I was pleased to see that he was a man after my own heart. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/and-as-i-surveyed-the-clutter-of-his-study-i-was-pleased-to-see-that/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“That one of history’s greatest brains struggled with amo, amas, amat should be consolation to anyone who has ever tried to learn a second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/that-one-of-history-s-greatest-brains-struggled-with-amo-amas-amat/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“Buttresses were one of the prime structural features of Gothic architecture: by accommodating the thrust of the vaults transferred to them from strategic points,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/buttresses-were-one-of-the-prime-structural-features-of-gothic/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“Yes, a great library — a library as magnificent as this one — was a dangerous arsenal, one that kings and emperors feared more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/yes-a-great-library-a-library-as-magnificent-as-this-one-was-a/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“While running simple errands I often became hopelessly confused in the maze of crowded, filthy streets that began twenty paces beyond the north gate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/while-running-simple-errands-i-often-became-hopelessly-confused-in/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“The Black Death was a faithful visitor to Florence. It arrived, on average, once every ten years, always in the summer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/the-black-death-was-a-faithful-visitor-to-florence-it-arrived-on/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“At times Leonardo was troubled by his lack of achievement. As a young man he appears to have developed a reputation for melancholia. “Leonardo,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/at-times-leonardo-was-troubled-by-his-lack-of-achievement-as-a-young/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“The soft throb and glow roused in my breast by the gilt letters of four or five different languages winking at me from scores…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/the-soft-throb-and-glow-roused-in-my-breast-by-the-gilt-letters-of/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“Let no one read my principles who is not a mathematician,” he famously declared (less famous is the fact that the principles he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/let-no-one-read-my-principles-who-is-not-a-mathematician-he-famously/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) > [“On August 19, 1418, a competition was announced in Florence, where the city's magnificent new cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, had been under construction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/on-august-19-1418-a-competition-was-announced-in-florence-where-the/) [Ross King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) [Explore all 17 Ross King quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/) ## 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": "“There was nothing so dangerous to a king or an emperor as a book. Yes, a great library—a library as magnificent as this one—was a dangerous arsenal, one that kings and emperors feared more than the greatest army or magazine.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ross King" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king-or-an-emperor-as-a-book-yes/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king-or-an-emperor-as-a-book-yes/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/140/ross-king-30886_books_there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king_1514966.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/140/ross-king-30886_books_there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king_1514966.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/140/ross-king-30886_books_there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king_1514966.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There was nothing so dangerous to a king or an emperor as a book. Yes, a great library—a library as…” — Ross King", "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": "Ross King", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-king/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There was nothing so dangerous to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king-or-an-emperor-as-a-book-yes/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-king/there-was-nothing-so-dangerous-to-a-king-or-an-emperor-as-a-book-yes/#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 } } ] } ```