--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I used to say that the greatest gift you…" description: "\"“I used to say that the greatest gift you could ever give anyone is a book. But I don't say that anymore because I no longer think it's true. I now say..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/will-schwalbe-3101_books_i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you_1500729.png" --- # I used to say that the greatest gift you could ever give… ![“I used to say that the greatest gift you could ever give anyone is a book. But I don't say that anymore because I no longer think it's true. I now say that a book is the second greatest gift. I've come to believe that the greatest gift you can give people is to take the time to talk with them…” quote by Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/will-schwalbe-3101_books_i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you_1500729.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/will-schwalbe-3101_books_i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you_1500729.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/will-schwalbe-3101_books_i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you_1500729.png) > ““I used to say that the greatest gift you could ever give anyone is a book. But I don't say that anymore because I no longer think it's true. I now say that a book is the second greatest gift. I've come to believe that the greatest gift you can give people is to take the time to talk with them about a book you've shared. A book is a great gift; the gift of your interest and attention is even greater.”” [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. The most valuable gift is not the book itself but the personal conversation it sparks, showing genuine interest and attention. **In simple terms:** Talking about a book is the best gift. Key Takeaway Engage others in meaningful book discussions. Themes communication learning relationships Mood thoughtful inspiring Type reflective educational When to use this quote - book clubs - teaching - friendship - mentoring Key Concepts attention shared experience literature Questions to Reflect On - How can you create space for deeper literary dialogue? - What barriers prevent you from sharing book insights? A Different Perspective Conversation alone may not convey the book's depth without active listening. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gift/) [Greatest gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatest-gift/) [Inspirational quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational-quotes/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [This must be a gift book. That is to say a book, which you wouldn't take on any other terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/this-must-be-a-gift-book-that-is-to-say-a-book-which-you-wouldn-t/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/the-greatest-gift-that-you-can-give-to-others-is-the-gift-of/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [The greatest gift that u can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-greatest-gift-that-u-can-give-to-others-is-the-gift-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Often we feel the need to say that a book isn’t just about a particular time or place but is about the human spirit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/often-we-feel-the-need-to-say-that-a-book-isn-t-just-about-a/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [It was actually a very nice little book done by a gift book company. They illustrated it with pictures from 1920s football, before there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregg-easterbrook/it-was-actually-a-very-nice-little-book-done-by-a-gift-book-company/) [Gregg Easterbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregg-easterbrook/) > [Books are my very favorite gift to give. If you give a book to someone and they really respond to it, you feel you've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/books-are-my-very-favorite-gift-to-give-if-you-give-a-book-to-someone/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“Give the Good Gift, Give a Book.~”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginny-karoub/give-the-good-gift-give-a-book/) Ginny Karoub > [What you are is God's gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/what-you-are-is-god-s-gift-to-you-what-you-become-is-your-gift-to-god/) [Hans Urs Von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The rudest possible gift is a gift card. It means you think the person is stupid and has no interests. The only good gift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/the-rudest-possible-gift-is-a-gift-card-it-means-you-think-the-person/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [“What is a Gift?" "A Gift is your way of serving the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/what-is-a-gift-a-gift-is-your-way-of-serving-the-world/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Everything I've wanted to turn into a film becomes something new and different when it becomes a movie... Each time I work with an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-reitman/everything-i-ve-wanted-to-turn-into-a-film-becomes-something-new-and/) [Jason Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-reitman/) > [“Well, you mind you manners and don't raise your voice. You know what your mamma used to say. Any book is a Good Book,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/well-you-mind-you-manners-and-don-t-raise-your-voice-you-know-what/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [“The decision to create a book trailer is entirely up to you. I can remember when "video killed the radio star" on MTV and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kytka-hilmar-jezek/the-decision-to-create-a-book-trailer-is-entirely-up-to-you-i-can/) [Kytka Hilmar-Jezek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kytka-hilmar-jezek/) > [ “\[Pliny the Elder\] used to say that “no book was so bad but some good might be got out of it.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/pliny-the-elder-used-to-say-that-no-book-was-so-bad-but-some-good/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) ## 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 Books 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/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [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/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [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/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [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/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I used to say that the greatest gift you could ever give anyone is a book. But I don't say that anymore because I no longer think it's true. I now say that a book is the second greatest gift. I've come to believe that the greatest gift you can give people is to take the time to talk with them about a book you've shared. A book is a great gift; the gift of your interest and attention is even greater.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Will Schwalbe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you-could-ever-give-anyone-is-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you-could-ever-give-anyone-is-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/will-schwalbe-3101_books_i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you_1500729.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/will-schwalbe-3101_books_i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you_1500729.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ae/will-schwalbe-3101_books_i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you_1500729.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I used to say that the greatest gift you could ever give anyone is a book. But I don't say that anymore…” — Will Schwalbe", "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": "Will Schwalbe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I used to say that the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you-could-ever-give-anyone-is-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-used-to-say-that-the-greatest-gift-you-could-ever-give-anyone-is-a/#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 } } ] } ```