--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A book may be compared to your neighbour…" description: "\"A book may be compared to your neighbour: if it be good it cannot last too long; if bad, you cannot get rid of it too early.\" — Rupert Brooke" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/rupert-brooke-9926_book_a-book-may-be-compared-to-your-neighbour_812401.png" --- # A book may be compared to your neighbour: if it be good it… ![“A book may be compared to your neighbour: if it be good it cannot last too long; if bad, you cannot get rid of it too early.” quote by Rupert Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/rupert-brooke-9926_book_a-book-may-be-compared-to-your-neighbour_812401.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/rupert-brooke-9926_book_a-book-may-be-compared-to-your-neighbour_812401.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25f/rupert-brooke-9926_book_a-book-may-be-compared-to-your-neighbour_812401.png) > “A book may be compared to your neighbour: if it be good it cannot last too long; if bad, you cannot get rid of it too early.” [Rupert Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-brooke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A good book, like a good neighbor, stays long; a bad book, like a bad neighbor, lingers too long. **In simple terms:** Good books endure; bad books linger. Key Takeaway Choose literature that enriches and respects time. Themes literature friendship quality Mood reflective contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reading habits - library curation - personal recommendations - cultural critique Key Concepts Aesthetic value social influence Questions to Reflect On - How do we assess a book’s lasting worth? - When should we discard a poorly received work? A Different Perspective Not all long‑lasting works are valuable; longevity can mask mediocrity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Compared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-compared-274310/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Compared Neighbour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compared-neighbour-274309/) [Good long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-long/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Neighbor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbor/) [Neighbour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbour/) [Neighbour Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbour-good-274308/) [Too early](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-early/) [Too long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-long/) ## Related quotes > [Often people tell us that a particular relative or a neighbour is not of good character or behaviour and we believe their point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjay-mishra/often-people-tell-us-that-a-particular-relative-or-a-neighbour-is-not/) [Sanjay Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjay-mishra/) > [Do your neighbour good by all means in your power, moral as well as physical - by kindness, by patience, by unflinching resistance against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/do-your-neighbour-good-by-all-means-in-your-power-moral-as-well-as/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Don't ever criticize yourself. 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Safe shall be my going, Secretly armed against all death's endeavour; Safe though all safety's lost; safe where men fall;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-brooke/war-knows-no-power-safe-shall-be-my-going-secretly-armed-against-all/) [Rupert Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-brooke/) > [I have need to busy my heart with quietude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-brooke/i-have-need-to-busy-my-heart-with-quietude/) [Rupert Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-brooke/) > [I shall desire and I shall find The best of my desires; The autumn road, the mellow wind That soothes the darkening shires. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-brooke/i-shall-desire-and-i-shall-find-the-best-of-my-desires-the-autumn/) [Rupert Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-brooke/) > [Spend in pure converse our eternal day; Think each in each, immediately wise; Learn all we lacked before; hear, know, and say What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-brooke/spend-in-pure-converse-our-eternal-day-think-each-in-each-immediately/) [Rupert Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-brooke/) [Explore all 69 Rupert Brooke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-brooke/) ## 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! 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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. 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