Books Quote by Walt Whitman
““Though he would sometimes not touch a book for a week, he generally spent part of each day in reading…if he sat in the library an hour, he would have half a dozen volumes around him, on the table, on chairs and on the floor. He seemed to read a few pages here and a few pages there, and pass from place to place, from volume to volume…sometimes (though very rarely) he would get sufficiently interested in a volume to read it all.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, 1855
He reads intermittently, gathering many books but rarely finishing any, showing a habit of breadth over depth.
In simple terms: He reads many books but rarely finishes them.
Key Takeaway
Embrace focused reading to deepen understanding.
Themes
reading habits
curiosity
breadth vs depth
Mood
reflective
introspective
Type
literary
observational
When to use this quote
- academic research
- personal study
- library use
- literary analysis
Key Concepts
attention span
knowledge acquisition
literary immersion
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you balance breadth and depth in reading?
- What strategies help maintain focus on a single work?
A Different Perspective
Depth may suffer without sustained focus.
![“It hardly mattered to him that [his] book was forgotten and that it served no use; and the question of its worth at any time seemed almost trivial...He let his fingers riffle through the pages and felt a tingling, as if those pages were alive… The fingers loosened, and the book they had held moved…” quote by John Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ffd/john-williams-3311_books_it-hardly-mattered-to-him-that-his-book_1311508.jpg)
