--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Books are like imprisoned souls until…" description: "\"“Books are like imprisoned souls until someone takes them down from a shelf and frees them.”\" — Samuel Butler" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/samuel-butler-823_book_books-are-like-imprisoned-souls-until-so_2692796.jpg" --- # Books are like imprisoned souls until someone takes them… ![“Books are like imprisoned souls until someone takes them down from a shelf and frees them.” quote by Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/samuel-butler-823_book_books-are-like-imprisoned-souls-until-so_2692796.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/samuel-butler-823_book_books-are-like-imprisoned-souls-until-so_2692796.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/samuel-butler-823_book_books-are-like-imprisoned-souls-until-so_2692796.jpg) > ““Books are like imprisoned souls until someone takes them down from a shelf and frees them.”” [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books remain dormant until read, at which point they become alive through the reader’s imagination. **In simple terms:** Books awaken when read. Key Takeaway Read to bring ideas to life. Themes literature imagination knowledge Mood inspirational thoughtful Type literary motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - teaching - creative writing Key Concepts philosophy education Questions to Reflect On - What books have transformed your thinking? - How does reading shape identity? A Different Perspective Reading may not always free all ideas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Bookshelves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bookshelves/) [Imprisoned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imprisoned/) [Imprisoned Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imprisoned-souls-2671887/) [Like Imprisoned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-imprisoned-255206/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Shelf Frees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shelf-frees-2671889/) [Takes Shelf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/takes-shelf-2671888/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Books are like imprisoned souls till someone takes them down from a shelf and frees them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/books-are-like-imprisoned-souls-till-someone-takes-them-down-from-a/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“I swore to myself that I would never be like her, so imprisoned that I didn’t even need a collar to obey my masters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-livingston/i-swore-to-myself-that-i-would-never-be-like-her-so-imprisoned-that-i/) [Lesley Livingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-livingston/) > [The history of mankind for the last four centuries is rather like that of an imprisoned sleeper, stirring clumsily and uneasily while the prison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/the-history-of-mankind-for-the-last-four-centuries-is-rather-like/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [“There is a part of me that no one ever sees. I hide behind a mask of heavy make-up and ever-changing hair and clothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-crane/there-is-a-part-of-me-that-no-one-ever-sees-i-hide-behind-a-mask-of/) [Julia Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-crane/) > [I learned to build bookshelves and brought books to my room, gathering them around me thickly. 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Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Peter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-easton/my-mom-didn-t-write-but-she-loved-to-read-she-liked-books-that-made/) [Michael Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-easton/) > [“If I am alive this is my book, and my father lives now in the afterlife that is a book, a thing not vague…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-williams/if-i-am-alive-this-is-my-book-and-my-father-lives-now-in-the/) [Niall Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-williams/) > [The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-time-will-come-when-with-elation-you-will-greet-yourself-arriving/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [I source images and ideas from different parts of my experiences, and sometimes they are things that are made-up, or just appear out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-stone/i-source-images-and-ideas-from-different-parts-of-my-experiences-and/) [Julia Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-stone/) > [If I walk into a place, a party, say, and there's a bookshelf, I immediately gravitate toward it. Unless there's a bar. But even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-evison/if-i-walk-into-a-place-a-party-say-and-there-s-a-bookshelf-i/) [Jonathan Evison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-evison/) > [You ever buy a book and not read it? You feel almost guilty having it up on a bookshelf. People are like, "Hey, how's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-gaffigan/you-ever-buy-a-book-and-not-read-it-you-feel-almost-guilty-having-it/) [Jim Gaffigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-gaffigan/) > [“She says I ought to throw out at least two books for every one I buy. I had new bookshelves put up in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-edwards/she-says-i-ought-to-throw-out-at-least-two-books-for-every-one-i-buy/) [Martin Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-edwards/) > [...Mr. Wodehouse is a prose stylist of such startling talent that Frankie nearly skipped around with glee when she first read some of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-lockhart/mr-wodehouse-is-a-prose-stylist-of-such-startling-talent-that-frankie/) [E. Lockhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-lockhart/) > [I have a nice bookshelf in my office, but not my house. I'm crass, but not that crass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-seinfeld/i-have-a-nice-bookshelf-in-my-office-but-not-my-house-i-m-crass-but/) [Jerry Seinfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-seinfeld/) ## More by Samuel Butler > [Is life worth living? This is a question for an embryo not for a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/is-life-worth-living-this-is-a-question-for-an-embryo-not-for-a-man/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [I am the enfant terrible of literature and science. If I cannot, and I know I cannot, get the literary and scientific bigwigs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/i-am-the-enfant-terrible-of-literature-and-science-if-i-cannot-and-i/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-you-follow-reason-far-enough-it-always-leads-to-conclusions-that/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/all-animals-except-man-know-that-the-principal-business-of-life-is-to/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [The advantage of doing one's praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-advantage-of-doing-one-s-praising-for-oneself-is-that-one-can-lay/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Spare the rod and spoil the child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Opinions have vested interests just as men have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/opinions-have-vested-interests-just-as-men-have/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“we must judge men not so much by what they, as by what they make us feel that they have it in them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/we-must-judge-men-not-so-much-by-what-they-as-by-what-they-make-us/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If I die prematurely I shall be saved from being bored to death at my own success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-i-die-prematurely-i-shall-be-saved-from-being-bored-to-death-at-my/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Vaccination is the medical sacrament corresponding to baptism. Whether it is or is not more efficacious I do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/vaccination-is-the-medical-sacrament-corresponding-to-baptism-whether/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“Having, then, once introduced an element of inconsistency into his system, he was far too consistent not to be inconsistent consistently, and he lapsed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/having-then-once-introduced-an-element-of-inconsistency-into-his/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Brigands demand your money or your life; women require both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/brigands-demand-your-money-or-your-life-women-require-both/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [A man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-man-who-lets-himself-be-bored-is-even-more-contemptible-than-the/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [It is not sufficiently considered in the hour of exultation, that all human excellence is comparative; that no man performs much but in proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/it-is-not-sufficiently-considered-in-the-hour-of-exultation-that-all/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-oldest-books-are-still-only-just-out-to-those-who-have-not-read/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) [Explore all 355 Samuel Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## 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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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/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. 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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