--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You despise books; you whose lives are…" description: "\"“You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the vanities of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure or indolence; but remember that all the known wor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/voltaire-173_ambition_you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-ab_159776.jpg" --- # You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the… ![“You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the vanities of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure or indolence; but remember that all the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed by books.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/voltaire-173_ambition_you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-ab_159776.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/voltaire-173_ambition_you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-ab_159776.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/voltaire-173_ambition_you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-ab_159776.jpg) > ““You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the vanities of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure or indolence; but remember that all the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed by books.”” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books shape societies and guide civilization, while those who ignore them remain confined to shallow pursuits. **In simple terms:** Books guide societies; ignoring them limits growth. Key Takeaway Value and study books to understand the world. Themes education civilization knowledge ambition pleasure Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic study - personal growth - policy making - literary criticism - civic education Key Concepts humanism cultural development intellectual history Questions to Reflect On - How does reading influence your worldview? - What risks arise when societies devalue literature? A Different Perspective Neglecting books can lead to misinformation and cultural stagnation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Beer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beer/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Pursuit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pursuit/) [Savages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/savages/) [Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanity/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [And I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of this world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/and-i-despise-your-books-i-despise-wisdom-and-the-blessings-of-this/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [All the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed by books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/all-the-known-world-excepting-only-savage-nations-is-governed-by-books/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [But it doesn't stop at school. We can all enjoy books throughout our lives - as I certainly continue to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-clarke/but-it-doesn-t-stop-at-school-we-can-all-enjoy-books-throughout-our/) [Charles Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-clarke/) > [What really makes a home a home is seeing the books of whoever lives there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-lofaso/what-really-makes-a-home-a-home-is-seeing-the-books-of-whoever-lives/) [Antonia Lofaso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-lofaso/) > [Who has fully realized that history is not contained in thick books but lives in our very blood?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/who-has-fully-realized-that-history-is-not-contained-in-thick-books/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [“Indolence is sweet, and its consequence bitter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/indolence-is-sweet-and-its-consequence-bitter/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Indolence is sweet, and its consequences bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/indolence-is-sweet-and-its-consequences-bitter/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Shakespeare is a drunken savage with some imagination whose plays please only in London and Canada.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/shakespeare-is-a-drunken-savage-with-some-imagination-whose-plays/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“A man must find his occasions in himself, it is true. The natural day is very calm, and will hardly reprove his indolence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-man-must-find-his-occasions-in-himself-it-is-true-the-natural-day/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“A sloppy half-Windsor is the first symptom of serial indolence' she replied in the patronizing voice that Yellows reserved for Rule-breakers, 'and ignoring the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/a-sloppy-half-windsor-is-the-first-symptom-of-serial-indolence-she/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [To will the impossible is usually a sin of indolence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-lewald/to-will-the-impossible-is-usually-a-sin-of-indolence/) Fanny Lewald > [The critic is a man who prefers the indolence of opinion to the trials of action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mason-brown/the-critic-is-a-man-who-prefers-the-indolence-of-opinion-to-the/) [John Mason Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mason-brown/) > [And indeed nothing but the most determined scepticism, along with a great degree of indolence, can justify this aversion to metaphysics. For if truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/and-indeed-nothing-but-the-most-determined-scepticism-along-with-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [There are two sorts of content; one is connected with exertion, the other with habits of indolence. The first is a virtue; the other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-edgeworth/there-are-two-sorts-of-content-one-is-connected-with-exertion-the/) [Maria Edgeworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-edgeworth/) > [In our own time the whole of Greece has been subject to a low birth rate and a general decrease of the population, owing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polybius/in-our-own-time-the-whole-of-greece-has-been-subject-to-a-low-birth/) [Polybius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polybius/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [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/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/being-unable-to-make-people-more-reasonable-i-preferred-to-be-happy/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/when-his-highness-sends-a-ship-to-egypt-does-he-trouble-his-head/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/god-gave-us-the-gift-of-life-it-is-up-to-us-to-give-ourselves-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-inequality-which-is-the-real-misfortune-it-is-dependence/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Explore all 934 Voltaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the vanities of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure or indolence; but remember that all the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed by books.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-absorbed-in-the-vanities-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-absorbed-in-the-vanities-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/voltaire-173_ambition_you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-ab_159776.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/voltaire-173_ambition_you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-ab_159776.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b4/voltaire-173_ambition_you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-ab_159776.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the vanities of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure or…” — Voltaire", "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": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“You despise books; you whose lives...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-absorbed-in-the-vanities-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/you-despise-books-you-whose-lives-are-absorbed-in-the-vanities-of/#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 } } ] } ```