--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But the thing that made it most…" description: "\"“But the thing that made it most interesting is what it had to say about books and religion. I love how Brooks shows that every great religion shares a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/will-schwalbe-3101_book_but-the-thing-that-made-it-most-interest_2416160.jpg" --- # But the thing that made it most interesting is what it had… ![“But the thing that made it most interesting is what it had to say about books and religion. I love how Brooks shows that every great religion shares a love of books, of reading, of knowledge. The individual books may be different, but reverence for books is what we all have in common. Books are…” quote by Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/will-schwalbe-3101_book_but-the-thing-that-made-it-most-interest_2416160.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/will-schwalbe-3101_book_but-the-thing-that-made-it-most-interest_2416160.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/115/will-schwalbe-3101_book_but-the-thing-that-made-it-most-interest_2416160.jpg) > ““But the thing that made it most interesting is what it had to say about books and religion. I love how Brooks shows that every great religion shares a love of books, of reading, of knowledge. The individual books may be different, but reverence for books is what we all have in common. Books are what bring all the different people in the novel together, Muslims and Jews and Christians. That’s why everyone in the book goes to such lengths to save this one book—one book stands for all books. When I think back on all the refugee camps I visited, all over the world, the people always asked for the same thing: books. Sometimes even before medicine or shelter—they wanted books for their children.”” [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Books unite people across cultures and hardships, showing that knowledge and stories are essential human needs. **In simple terms:** Books bring people together. Key Takeaway Value and protect books. Themes knowledge unity humanity culture Mood hopeful reflective Type expository inspirational When to use this quote - war zones - libraries - education programs Key Concepts literature faith refugee experience Questions to Reflect On - Why are books prioritized over basic needs? - How do books foster resilience? A Different Perspective access to books may be limited. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Bring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-bring-3431046/) [Books Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-common-3075826/) [Books Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-religion-4725599/) [Books Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-think-258542/) [Different people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-people/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Of Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-of-books/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Say Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-books-999208/) ## Related quotes > [“Again, all who are smitten with the love of books think cheaply of the world and wealth; as Jerome says to Vigilantius: The same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-de-bury/again-all-who-are-smitten-with-the-love-of-books-think-cheaply-of-the/) [Richard de Bury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-de-bury/) > [If religion and life depend upon books or upon the existence of any prophet whatsoever, then perish all religion and books! Religion is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/if-religion-and-life-depend-upon-books-or-upon-the-existence-of-any/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [ “\[A\]ll who are smitten with the love of books think cheaply of the world and wealth; as Jerome says to Vigilantius: The same man… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-de-bury/a-ll-who-are-smitten-with-the-love-of-books-think-cheaply-of-the/) [Richard de Bury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-de-bury/) > [“The books we love offer a sketch of a whole universe that we secretly inhabit, and in which we desire the other person to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/the-books-we-love-offer-a-sketch-of-a-whole-universe-that-we-secretly/) [Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/) > [When I was a child in the Navy during World War II, I was perennially grateful to the armed services libraries for having on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/when-i-was-a-child-in-the-navy-during-world-war-ii-i-was-perennially/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [I am a very radical person - as radical now as I was when I was younger. So my books all have in common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/i-am-a-very-radical-person-as-radical-now-as-i-was-when-i-was-younger/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [What do all my books have in common? A commitment to memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/what-do-all-my-books-have-in-common-a-commitment-to-memory/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Books can bring us to the place,we never been,but dreams work better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cath-chatto/books-can-bring-us-to-the-place-we-never-been-but-dreams-work-better/) [Cath Chatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cath-chatto/) > [“Let me begin with a heartfelt confession. I admit it. I am a biblioholic, one who loves books and whose life would seem incomplete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-w-glaspey/let-me-begin-with-a-heartfelt-confession-i-admit-it-i-am-a/) [Terry W. Glaspey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-w-glaspey/) > [Reading to our children and our grandchildren is something we can all try to do every day of the year. Not only does it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camilla-duchess-of-cornwall/reading-to-our-children-and-our-grandchildren-is-something-we-can-all/) [Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camilla-duchess-of-cornwall/) > [People get nothing out of books but what they bring to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/people-get-nothing-out-of-books-but-what-they-bring-to-them/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Books bring alluring colors to our mundane black and white world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-reese/books-bring-alluring-colors-to-our-mundane-black-and-white-world/) [Caleb Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-reese/) > [Everybody judges a book by its cover. I can look at 50 books and say every one of those books is bad. Then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-sturridge/everybody-judges-a-book-by-its-cover-i-can-look-at-50-books-and-say/) [Daniel Sturridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-sturridge/) > [You're not allowed to say anything about books because they're books, and books are, you know, God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/you-re-not-allowed-to-say-anything-about-books-because-they-re-books/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [Generally my favorite remarks always come from my readers. I've had people say my books made them laugh, or cry, or that it frightened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/generally-my-favorite-remarks-always-come-from-my-readers-i-ve-had/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) ## More by Will Schwalbe > [And my first item on each day's list is this: Wake up. If I can check that off, I've already done something and can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/and-my-first-item-on-each-day-s-list-is-this-wake-up-if-i-can-check/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“You can truly miss characters. Not like you miss people, but you can still miss them. I don’t think I’ll ever get over Melanie’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/you-can-truly-miss-characters-not-like-you-miss-people-but-you-can/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“and sister and father and mother had. I was learning that when you’re with someone who is dying, you may need to celebrate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/and-sister-and-father-and-mother-had-i-was-learning-that-when-you-re/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“Hidden away, the people of the streets drift into sleep induced by alcohol or agitated by despair, into dreams that carry them back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/hidden-away-the-people-of-the-streets-drift-into-sleep-induced-by/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“If heathen prayers were indeed the best of all, then mine should count big time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/if-heathen-prayers-were-indeed-the-best-of-all-then-mine-should-count/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [In Gilead, the narrator's friend's son describes himself not as an atheist but in "state of categorical unbelief." He says, "I don't even believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/in-gilead-the-narrator-s-friend-s-son-describes-himself-not-as-an/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“I did manage to read some pages from a book that’s also about how people can find strength they didn’t know they had.” “What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-did-manage-to-read-some-pages-from-a-book-that-s-also-about-how/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“I'm not the same reader when I finish a book as I was when I started, brains are tangles of pathways, and reading creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-m-not-the-same-reader-when-i-finish-a-book-as-i-was-when-i-started/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“Connelly writes, “As long as there is paper, people will write, secretly, in small rooms, in the hidden chambers of their minds, just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/connelly-writes-as-long-as-there-is-paper-people-will-write-secretly/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“When I think back on all the refugee camps I visited, all over the world, the people always asked for the same thing: books.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/when-i-think-back-on-all-the-refugee-camps-i-visited-all-over-the/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“asked: “And I was very surprised by the ending. Were you?” “Of course not—I’d read it first. I don’t think I could have stood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/asked-and-i-was-very-surprised-by-the-ending-were-you-of-course-not-i/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“A father and his son are in a terrible car crash. The father is killed instantly—but the son survives, barely, his life hanging in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/a-father-and-his-son-are-in-a-terrible-car-crash-the-father-is-killed/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [...in the eyes of her oldest friends and colleagues and extended family, she wasn't a painfully thin seventy-five-year-old gray haired woman dying of cancer-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/in-the-eyes-of-her-oldest-friends-and-colleagues-and-extended-family/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“I like books. I don't read them. But I like them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-like-books-i-don-t-read-them-but-i-like-them/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [“Lahiri's characters, just like people all around us, are constantly telling each other important things, but not necessarily in words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/lahiri-s-characters-just-like-people-all-around-us-are-constantly/) [will schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) [Explore all 139 Will Schwalbe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) ## 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": "“But the thing that made it most interesting is what it had to say about books and religion. I love how Brooks shows that every great religion shares a love of books, of reading, of knowledge. The individual books may be different, but reverence for books is what we all have in common. Books are what bring all the different people in the novel together, Muslims and Jews and Christians. That’s why everyone in the book goes to such lengths to save this one book—one book stands for all books. When I think back on all the refugee camps I visited, all over the world, the people always asked for the same thing: books. 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