--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But preserve your mistrust of the page…" description: "\"“But preserve your mistrust of the page, for a book is a fortress, a place of weeping, the key to a desert, a river that has no bridge, a garden of spe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/sofia-samatar-32478_book_but-preserve-your-mistrust-of-the-page-f_1187179.jpg" --- # But preserve your mistrust of the page, for a book is a… ![“But preserve your mistrust of the page, for a book is a fortress, a place of weeping, the key to a desert, a river that has no bridge, a garden of spears.” quote by Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/sofia-samatar-32478_book_but-preserve-your-mistrust-of-the-page-f_1187179.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/sofia-samatar-32478_book_but-preserve-your-mistrust-of-the-page-f_1187179.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/sofia-samatar-32478_book_but-preserve-your-mistrust-of-the-page-f_1187179.jpg) > ““But preserve your mistrust of the page, for a book is a fortress, a place of weeping, the key to a desert, a river that has no bridge, a garden of spears.”” [Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-samatar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A book can be both protective and perilous, offering knowledge yet exposing vulnerability and isolation;Books are safe havens and sources of emotional hardship, reflecting the paradox of seeking truth. **In simple terms:** Books protect but also expose feelings. Key Takeaway Treat reading with cautious curiosity. Themes knowledge vulnerability paradox truth isolation Mood reflective melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - academic research - emotional healing - creative writing Key Concepts literature psychology metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance trust and skepticism when reading? - What safeguards help you process painful insights? A Different Perspective Reading can trap you in despair if not balanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Fortress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-fortress-3507153/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Mistrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistrust/) [Mistrust Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistrust-page-3507154/) [Place Weeping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/place-weeping-3507156/) [Preserve Mistrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preserve-mistrust-3507155/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [He who mistrusts most should be trusted least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theognis-of-megara/he-who-mistrusts-most-should-be-trusted-least/) [Theognis of Megara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theognis-of-megara/) > [Never for a moment do we lay aside our mistrust of the ideals established by society, and of the convictions which are kept by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/never-for-a-moment-do-we-lay-aside-our-mistrust-of-the-ideals/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Usually, I would mistrust a book if it took that long to write. 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Transparency is the politics of managing mistrust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-krastev/transparency-is-not-about-restoring-trust-in-institutions/) [Ivan Krastev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-krastev/) > [You realize that our mistrust of the future makes it hard to give up the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/you-realize-that-our-mistrust-of-the-future-makes-it-hard-to-give-up/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [I would have none of that rigid circumspect charity which is never done without scrutiny, and which always mistrusts the truth of the necessities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-massillon/i-would-have-none-of-that-rigid-circumspect-charity-which-is-never/) [Jean Baptiste Massillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-massillon/) > [Mistrust all men, and slay him whom thou mistrustest overmuch; and as for women, flee from them, for they are evil, and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-rider-haggard/mistrust-all-men-and-slay-him-whom-thou-mistrustest-overmuch-and-as/) [H. Rider Haggard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-rider-haggard/) ## More by Sofia Samatar > [“The silence. End of all poetry, all romances. Earlier, frightened, you began to have some intimation of it: so many pages had been turned,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-samatar/the-silence-end-of-all-poetry-all-romances-earlier-frightened-you/) [Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-samatar/) > [“Once you have built something - something that takes all your passion and will - it becomes more precious to you than your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-samatar/once-you-have-built-something-something-that-takes-all-your-passion/) [Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-samatar/) > [“Are you just going to stand there and leak like a broken hourglass?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-samatar/are-you-just-going-to-stand-there-and-leak-like-a-broken-hourglass/) [Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-samatar/) > [“It was “a shape to make men weep,” wrote Firdred of Bain when he first saw it: “exactly the shape of a desecrated sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-samatar/it-was-a-shape-to-make-men-weep-wrote-firdred-of-bain-when-he-first/) [Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-samatar/) > [“There is no end to writing, I think, no end to the project of rescue." --Sofia Samatar, from "Fallow," in her collection, Tender”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-samatar/there-is-no-end-to-writing-i-think-no-end-to-the-project-of-rescue/) [Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-samatar/) > [“All through my journey his stories had fallen like snow. 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Lonely people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-samatar/people-talked-about-loneliness-as-if-it-were-something-alive-and-it/) [Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-samatar/) > [“The word for 'book' in all the known languages of the earth is vallon, 'chamber of words'...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-samatar/the-word-for-book-in-all-the-known-languages-of-the-earth-is-vallon/) [Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-samatar/) > [“There is enough cruelty in the world," she told me softly, "to justify all the music ever made.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-samatar/there-is-enough-cruelty-in-the-world-she-told-me-softly-to-justify/) [Sofia Samatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-samatar/) > [“The night sky was distended in my dreams, sinking to earth with the weight of destructive glory behind it. 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