--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No book is worth reading once if it is…" description: "\"“No book is worth reading once if it is not worth reading many times.”\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/susan-sontag-332_book_no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-n_1158160.jpg" --- # No book is worth reading once if it is not worth reading… ![“No book is worth reading once if it is not worth reading many times.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/susan-sontag-332_book_no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-n_1158160.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/susan-sontag-332_book_no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-n_1158160.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/susan-sontag-332_book_no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-n_1158160.jpg) > ““No book is worth reading once if it is not worth reading many times.”” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## 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 that isn’t worth rereading likely lacks depth or lasting relevance. **In simple terms:** Rereading shows a book’s value. Key Takeaway Seek works that reward multiple readings. Themes literature reading value Mood contemplative thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic study - personal growth - book clubs Key Concepts interpretation depth repetition Questions to Reflect On - What makes a book worth rereading? - How do repeated readings change understanding? A Different Perspective Not all books merit multiple reads. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-worth-715346/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-books/) [Reading Times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-times-3303444/) [Reading Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-worth-2868831/) [Worth reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth-reading/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [A book worth reading is worth buying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/a-book-worth-reading-is-worth-buying/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [If a book is worth reading, it is worth buying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/if-a-book-is-worth-reading-it-is-worth-buying/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [“A book worth reading is worth owning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/a-book-worth-reading-is-worth-owning/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [The very cheapness of literature is making even wise people forget that if a book is worth reading, it is worth buying. No book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-very-cheapness-of-literature-is-making-even-wise-people-forget/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [Read a lot. Expect something big, something exalting or deepening from a book. No book is worth reading that isn't worth re-reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/read-a-lot-expect-something-big-something-exalting-or-deepening-from/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Anything worth reading is not only worth reading twice, but worth reading again and again. If a book is worthwhile, then you will always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/anything-worth-reading-is-not-only-worth-reading-twice-but-worth/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [“If a book is worth reading at all, it is worth reading more than once. Suspense is the lowest of excitants, designed to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gerhardie/if-a-book-is-worth-reading-at-all-it-is-worth-reading-more-than-once/) [William Gerhardie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gerhardie/) > [Books worth reading are worth re-reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holbrook-jackson/books-worth-reading-are-worth-re-reading/) [Holbrook Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holbrook-jackson/) > [You will find most books worth reading are worth reading twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-find-most-books-worth-reading-are-worth-reading-twice/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The book is worth reading, in part because it is enjoyable to read of other people's folly, not to mention their avarice and stupidity."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-lowenstein/the-book-is-worth-reading-in-part-because-it-is-enjoyable-to-read-of/) [Roger Lowenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-lowenstein/) > [Any book worth banning is a book worth reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/any-book-worth-banning-is-a-book-worth-reading/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Not every book has to be loaded with symbolism, irony, or musical language, but it seems to me that every book-at least every one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/not-every-book-has-to-be-loaded-with-symbolism-irony-or-musical/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I don't want to say no book is ever worth reading, but I actually do believe something pretty close to that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-bankman-fried/i-don-t-want-to-say-no-book-is-ever-worth-reading-but-i-actually-do/) [Sam Bankman-Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-bankman-fried/) > [The heart is the only book worth reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/the-heart-is-the-only-book-worth-reading/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [“No book worth reading ever fails to be steeped with the spirit of the person who wrote it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-leicester-ford/no-book-worth-reading-ever-fails-to-be-steeped-with-the-spirit-of-the/) [Paul Leicester Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-leicester-ford/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? 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The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## 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. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“No book is worth reading once if it is not worth reading many times.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Sontag" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-not-worth-reading-many-times/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-not-worth-reading-many-times/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/susan-sontag-332_book_no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-n_1158160.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/susan-sontag-332_book_no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-n_1158160.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d9/susan-sontag-332_book_no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-n_1158160.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No book is worth reading once if it is not worth reading many times.” — Susan Sontag", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Susan Sontag", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“No book is worth reading once...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-not-worth-reading-many-times/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/no-book-is-worth-reading-once-if-it-is-not-worth-reading-many-times/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```