--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Holding a precious book meant to Mendel…" description: "\"“Holding a precious book meant to Mendel what an assignment with a woman might to another man. These moments were his platonic nights of love. Books ha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bb/stefan-zweig-811_another-man_holding-a-precious-book-meant-to-mendel_1147426.jpg" --- # Holding a precious book meant to Mendel what an assignment… ![“Holding a precious book meant to Mendel what an assignment with a woman might to another man. These moments were his platonic nights of love. Books had power over him; money never did. Great collectors, including the founder of a collection in Princeton University Library, tried in vain to recruit…” quote by Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bb/stefan-zweig-811_another-man_holding-a-precious-book-meant-to-mendel_1147426.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bb/stefan-zweig-811_another-man_holding-a-precious-book-meant-to-mendel_1147426.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bb/stefan-zweig-811_another-man_holding-a-precious-book-meant-to-mendel_1147426.jpg) > ““Holding a precious book meant to Mendel what an assignment with a woman might to another man. These moments were his platonic nights of love. Books had power over him; money never did. Great collectors, including the founder of a collection in Princeton University Library, tried in vain to recruit him as an adviser and buyer for their libraries—Jakob Mendel declined; no one could imagine him anywhere but in the Café Gluck. Thirty-three years ago, when his beard was still soft and black and he had ringlets over his forehead, he had come from the east to Vienna, a crook-backed lad, to study for the rabbinate, but he had soon abandoned Jehovah the harsh One God to give himself up to idolatry in the form of the brilliant, thousand-fold polytheism of books. That was when he had first found his way to the Café Gluck, and gradually it became his workplace, his headquarters, his post office, his world. Like an astronomer alone in his observatory, studying myriads of stars every night through the tiny round lens of the telescope, observing their mysterious courses, their wandering multitude as they are extinguished and then appear again, so Jakob Mendel looked through his glasses out from that rectangular table into the other universe of books, also eternally circling and being reborn in that world above our own.”” [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A bibliophile finds his identity and purpose in books, valuing them above wealth and status, turning a café into his universe of knowledge. **In simple terms:** Books define him more than money or fame. Key Takeaway Seek meaning in passions, not external validation. Themes literature identity passion Mood reflective nostalgic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - library work - personal study - collecting rare books - academic research Key Concepts bibliophilia existential fulfillment solitude Questions to Reflect On - What passions define you beyond material success? - How can you balance devotion with social connection? A Different Perspective His devotion may isolate him from broader society. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book-lovers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-lovers/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Every night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-night/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Mendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mendel/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) ## Related quotes > [“Reading,” I said. “Books. It’s pretty sexy. I like women who read.” - Rip”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailin-gow/reading-i-said-books-it-s-pretty-sexy-i-like-women-who-read-rip/) [Kailin Gow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailin-gow/) > [“The elevator doors opened, and I squeezed myself out before pulling out the Wardrober. 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Like a ring on a finger, a name may at first seem merely accidental, committing you to nothing;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/names-have-a-mysterious-transforming-power-like-a-ring-on-a-finger-a/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [There is no sense to a sacrifice after you come to feel that it is a sacrifice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/there-is-no-sense-to-a-sacrifice-after-you-come-to-feel-that-it-is-a/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [No guilt is forgotten so long as the conscience still knows of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/no-guilt-is-forgotten-so-long-as-the-conscience-still-knows-of-it/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [Nothing that has ever been thought and said with a clear mind and pure ethical strength is totally in vain; even if it comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/nothing-that-has-ever-been-thought-and-said-with-a-clear-mind-and/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [It is the way of youth that each fresh piece of knowledge of life should go to its head, and that once uplifted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/it-is-the-way-of-youth-that-each-fresh-piece-of-knowledge-of-life/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“The truths that he finds may in the coming months or even the coming years be truths no more. 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Thirty-three years ago, when his beard was still soft and black and he had ringlets over his forehead, he had come from the east to Vienna, a crook-backed lad, to study for the rabbinate, but he had soon abandoned Jehovah the harsh One God to give himself up to idolatry in the form of the brilliant, thousand-fold polytheism of books. That was when he had first found his way to the Café Gluck, and gradually it became his workplace, his headquarters, his post office, his world. 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