Books Quote by Samuel Johnson

A man of letters, merely by reading a phrase, can estimate exactly the literary merit of its author.

— Marcel Proust

Letter-writing on the part of a busy man or woman is the quintessence of generosity.

— Agnes Repplier

A man ought to read just as inclination leads him, for what he reads as a task will do him little good.

— Samuel Johnson

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

— Francis Bacon

The more a man writes, the more he can write.

— William Hazlitt

The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to…

— Samuel Johnson

So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.

— Dr. Seuss

Reading maketh a full man; and writing an axact man. And, therefore, if a man write little, he need have a present wit; and…

— Francis Bacon

Literature nowadays is a trade... the successful man of letters is your skilful tradesman. He thinks first and foremost of the markets.

— George Gissing

The quality which makes man want to write and be read is essentially a desire for self-exposure and masochism. Like one of those guys…

— James Jones

“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…

— Friedrich Nietzsche

Man is what he reads.

— Joseph Brodsky