--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No book can be so good, as to be…" description: "\"No book can be so good, as to be profitable when negligently read.\" — Seneca the Younger" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/seneca-the-younger-219_book_no-book-can-be-so-good-as-to-be-profitab_696178.jpg" --- # No book can be so good, as to be profitable when… ![“No book can be so good, as to be profitable when negligently read.” quote by Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/seneca-the-younger-219_book_no-book-can-be-so-good-as-to-be-profitab_696178.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/seneca-the-younger-219_book_no-book-can-be-so-good-as-to-be-profitab_696178.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/seneca-the-younger-219_book_no-book-can-be-so-good-as-to-be-profitab_696178.jpg) > “No book can be so good, as to be profitable when negligently read.” [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading without care yields no profit; true value comes from attentive, thoughtful engagement. **In simple terms:** Reading poorly gives no benefit. Key Takeaway Read attentively to gain wisdom. Themes reading wisdom attention Mood contemplative educational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - studying - research - personal growth Key Concepts critical thinking mindful consumption Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure deep reading? - What practices improve comprehension? A Different Perspective Distractions can still dilute reading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-good/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Good Profitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-profitable-4097296/) [Negligently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negligently-5520615/) [Negligently Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negligently-read-5520614/) [Profitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profitable/) [Profitable Negligently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profitable-negligently-5520613/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Yes, it's important to make things great, and you can certainly do this by upgrading over time, but good and profitable is better than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-howes/yes-it-s-important-to-make-things-great-and-you-can-certainly-do-this/) [Lewis Howes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-howes/) > [It might be pardonable to refuse to defend some men, but to defend them negligently is nothing short of criminal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/it-might-be-pardonable-to-refuse-to-defend-some-men-but-to-defend/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [My thing is to have a good, profitable company, for it to be 100% owned independently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-dash/my-thing-is-to-have-a-good-profitable-company-for-it-to-be-100-owned/) [Damon Dash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-dash/) > [I like westerns, fantasy, sci-fi, graphic novels, thrillers, and I try to avoid the word 'genre' altogether. A good book is a good book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/i-like-westerns-fantasy-sci-fi-graphic-novels-thrillers-and-i-try-to/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [A good book is a good book, and there are a lot of different ways to approach writing or reading one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-barton/a-good-book-is-a-good-book-and-there-are-a-lot-of-different-ways-to/) [Emily Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-barton/) > [Bed is a good friend; book is a good friend; night is a good friend. 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I could be a bad book with a good jacket.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/well-i-m-warning-you-i-could-be-a-bad-book-with-a-good-jacket/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Most of what makes a book 'good' is that we are reading it at the right moment for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/most-of-what-makes-a-book-good-is-that-we-are-reading-it-at-the-right/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Between ourselves, there is no such thing, abstractly, as a 'good' book. A book is 'good' only when it meets some human hunger or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/between-ourselves-there-is-no-such-thing-abstractly-as-a-good-book-a/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [If you wrote a page a day, at the end of the year you would have a book. Whether it's any good or not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-collins/if-you-wrote-a-page-a-day-at-the-end-of-the-year-you-would-have-a/) [Jackie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-collins/) > [O, there is lovely to feel a book, a good book, firm in the hand, for its fatness holds rich promise, and you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-llewellyn/o-there-is-lovely-to-feel-a-book-a-good-book-firm-in-the-hand-for-its/) [Richard Llewellyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-llewellyn/) ## More by Seneca the Younger > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [It is for the superfluous we sweat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/it-is-for-the-superfluous-we-sweat/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Men trust rather to their eyes than to their ears; the effect of precepts is therefore slow and tedious, whilst that of examples is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/men-trust-rather-to-their-eyes-than-to-their-ears-the-effect-of/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [A great step towards independence is a good-humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/a-great-step-towards-independence-is-a-good-humored-stomach-one-that/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Men can be divided into 2 groups: one that goes ahead and achieves something, and one that comes after and criticizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/men-can-be-divided-into-2-groups-one-that-goes-ahead-and-achieves/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Leisure without study is death, and the grave of a living man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/leisure-without-study-is-death-and-the-grave-of-a-living-man/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Such as the chain of causes we call Fate, such is the chain of wishes: one links on to another; the whole man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/such-as-the-chain-of-causes-we-call-fate-such-is-the-chain-of-wishes/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [To rule yourself is the ultimate power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/to-rule-yourself-is-the-ultimate-power/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The road by precepts is tedious, by example, short and efficacious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-road-by-precepts-is-tedious-by-example-short-and-efficacious/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Misfortune is the test of a person's merit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/misfortune-is-the-test-of-a-person-s-merit/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [He who does not want to die should not want to live. For life is tendered to us with the proviso of death. Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/he-who-does-not-want-to-die-should-not-want-to-live-for-life-is/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Let us not seek our disease out of ourselves; 'tis in us, and planted in our bowels; and the mere fact that we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/let-us-not-seek-our-disease-out-of-ourselves-tis-in-us-and-planted-in/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [After death there is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/after-death-there-is-nothing/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Adversity finds at last the man whom she has often passed by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/adversity-finds-at-last-the-man-whom-she-has-often-passed-by/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Hesitation is the best cure for anger. The first blows of anger are heavy, but if it waits, it will think again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/hesitation-is-the-best-cure-for-anger-the-first-blows-of-anger-are/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) [Explore all 872 Seneca the Younger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## 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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