--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I read as many books as most men do, I…" description: "\"If I read as many books as most men do, I would be as dull-witted as they are.\" — Thomas Hobbes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/thomas-hobbes-1127_book_if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i_2741580.jpg" --- # If I read as many books as most men do, I would be as… ![“If I read as many books as most men do, I would be as dull-witted as they are.” quote by Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/thomas-hobbes-1127_book_if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i_2741580.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/thomas-hobbes-1127_book_if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i_2741580.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/thomas-hobbes-1127_book_if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i_2741580.jpg) > “If I read as many books as most men do, I would be as dull-witted as they are.” [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading as many books as most men would make one as dull as them. **In simple terms:** Reading many books can make you dull. Key Takeaway Seek diverse experiences beyond books. Themes education conformity intellectualism Mood critical reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - self‑education - critical thinking - cultural exposure Key Concepts philosophy social critique Questions to Reflect On - How can reading foster originality? - What alternatives enrich intellect? A Different Perspective Books also broaden horizons. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Witty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witty/) ## Related quotes > [Some men are too dull to feel what might happen. Others torture themselves with maybes and populate their dreams with horrors more terrible than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/some-men-are-too-dull-to-feel-what-might-happen-others-torture/) [Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/) > [“Just what we need.A dull-witted lord," Constance mused. "At least he doesn't seem menacing anymore." Just wait,old woman, and you will learn just how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-sinclair/just-what-we-need-a-dull-witted-lord-constance-mused-at-least-he/) [Michele Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-sinclair/) > [“Enlightenment comes to the most dull-witted. It begins around the eyes. From there it radiates.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/enlightenment-comes-to-the-most-dull-witted-it-begins-around-the-eyes/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Read not books alone, but men, and amongst them chiefly thyself. If thou find anything questionable there, use the commentary of a severe friend,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/read-not-books-alone-but-men-and-amongst-them-chiefly-thyself-if-thou/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [“It really is an APPALLING thing to think of the people who have no books...It is only by books that most men and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-collins/it-really-is-an-appalling-thing-to-think-of-the-people-who-have-no/) [Paul Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-collins/) > [Read not books alone, but men, and amongst them chiefly thyself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/read-not-books-alone-but-men-and-amongst-them-chiefly-thyself/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [“That Wisedome is acquired, not by reading of Books, but of Men. Consequently whereunto, those persons, that for the most part can give no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/that-wisedome-is-acquired-not-by-reading-of-books-but-of-men/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [It is rather astonishing how little practical value scientific knowledge has for ordinary men, how dull and commonplace such of it as has value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/it-is-rather-astonishing-how-little-practical-value-scientific/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [Solitude either develops the mental power, or renders men dull and vicious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/solitude-either-develops-the-mental-power-or-renders-men-dull-and/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Vineyards and shining harvests, pastures, arbors, And all this our very utmost toil Can hardly care for, we wear down our strength Whether in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/vineyards-and-shining-harvests-pastures-arbors-and-all-this-our-very/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [“Determination is as common among men who are dull and foolish as it is among those who are brilliant intellects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/determination-is-as-common-among-men-who-are-dull-and-foolish-as-it/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [Keep away from books and from men who get their ideas from books, and your own books will always be fresh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/keep-away-from-books-and-from-men-who-get-their-ideas-from-books-and/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The modernness of all good books seems to give men an existence as wide as man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-modernness-of-all-good-books-seems-to-give-men-an-existence-as/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part-2/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by Thomas Hobbes > [“Give an inch, he'll take an ell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/give-an-inch-he-ll-take-an-ell/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Do not that to another, which thou wouldst not have done to thyself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/do-not-that-to-another-which-thou-wouldst-not-have-done-to-thyself/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [For it is with the mysteries of our religion, as with wholesome pills for the sick, which swallowed whole, have the virtue to cure;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/for-it-is-with-the-mysteries-of-our-religion-as-with-wholesome-pills/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Intemperance is naturally punished with diseases; rashness, with mischance; injustice; with violence of enemies; pride, with ruin; cowardice, with oppression; and rebellion, with slaughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/intemperance-is-naturally-punished-with-diseases-rashness-with/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [A man's conscience and his judgment is the same thing; and as the judgment, so also the conscience, may be erroneous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/a-man-s-conscience-and-his-judgment-is-the-same-thing-and-as-the/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [He that is to govern a whole Nation , must read in himself, not this, or that particular man; but Mankind; which though it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/he-that-is-to-govern-a-whole-nation-must-read-in-himself-not-this-or/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [If men are naturally in a state of war, why do they always carry arms and why do they have keys to lock their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/if-men-are-naturally-in-a-state-of-war-why-do-they-always-carry-arms/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Let a man (as most men do) rate themselves as the highest Value they can; yet their true Value is no more than it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/let-a-man-as-most-men-do-rate-themselves-as-the-highest-value-they/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [A free man is he that, in those things which by his strength and wit he is able to do, is not hindered to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/a-free-man-is-he-that-in-those-things-which-by-his-strength-and-wit/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [“Covenants, without the sword, are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/covenants-without-the-sword-are-but-words-and-of-no-strength-to/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Fear of things invisible in the natural seed of that which everyone in himself calleth religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/fear-of-things-invisible-in-the-natural-seed-of-that-which-everyone/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Because silver and gold have their value from the matter itself, they have first this privilege, that the value of them cannot be altered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/because-silver-and-gold-have-their-value-from-the-matter-itself-they/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [What reason is there that he which laboreth much, and, sparing the fruits of his labor, consumeth little, should be more charged than he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/what-reason-is-there-that-he-which-laboreth-much-and-sparing-the/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [The cause of Sense, is the External Body, or Object, which presseth the organ proper to each Sense, either immediately, as in theTaste and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/the-cause-of-sense-is-the-external-body-or-object-which-presseth-the/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [The characters of man's heart, blotted and confounded as they are with dissembling, lying, counterfeiting, and erroneous doctrines, are legible only to him that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/the-characters-of-man-s-heart-blotted-and-confounded-as-they-are-with/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) [Explore all 285 Thomas Hobbes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) ## 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! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. 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": "If I read as many books as most men do, I would be as dull-witted as they are.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Hobbes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i-would-be-as-dull-witted-as/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i-would-be-as-dull-witted-as/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/thomas-hobbes-1127_book_if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i_2741580.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/thomas-hobbes-1127_book_if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i_2741580.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a94/thomas-hobbes-1127_book_if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i_2741580.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If I read as many books as most men do, I would be as dull-witted as they are.” — Thomas Hobbes", "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": "Thomas Hobbes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If I read as many books...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i-would-be-as-dull-witted-as/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/if-i-read-as-many-books-as-most-men-do-i-would-be-as-dull-witted-as/#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 } } ] } ```