--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That’s one of the things books do. They…" description: "\"That’s one of the things books do. They help us talk. But they also give us something we all can talk about when we don’t want to talk about ourselves...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/will-schwalbe-3101_book_that-s-one-of-the-things-books-do-they-h_486528.jpg" --- # That’s one of the things books do. They help us talk. But… ![“That’s one of the things books do. They help us talk. But they also give us something we all can talk about when we don’t want to talk about ourselves.” quote by Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/will-schwalbe-3101_book_that-s-one-of-the-things-books-do-they-h_486528.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/will-schwalbe-3101_book_that-s-one-of-the-things-books-do-they-h_486528.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/will-schwalbe-3101_book_that-s-one-of-the-things-books-do-they-h_486528.jpg) > “That’s one of the things books do. They help us talk. But they also give us something we all can talk about when we don’t want to talk about ourselves.” [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 provide common topics that facilitate conversation, especially when personal subjects are uncomfortable. **In simple terms:** Books give safe talking points. Key Takeaway Use books to start dialogue. Themes literature conversation comfort Mood friendly informative Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - book clubs - first dates - networking events - therapy sessions Key Concepts shared knowledge social ease Questions to Reflect On - Which book can you recommend? - How do you handle differing tastes? A Different Perspective Not everyone reads the same material. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Help](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-help-1391779/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Help Talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/help-talk-3878676/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Talk Talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talk-talk/) [Things Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-books-903612/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want Talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-talk/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“As for me, I'm on a search and have been, I now realize, all my life - to find books to help me make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/as-for-me-i-m-on-a-search-and-have-been-i-now-realize-all-my-life-to/) [Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/) > [I'm learning more different ways to deal with things. You know what I mean? So, I gotta be selfish and help myself first before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-kingston/i-m-learning-more-different-ways-to-deal-with-things-you-know-what-i/) [Eddie Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-kingston/) > [“Its imposible to have real friendship when no one feels like they can accept help or even talk about themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/its-imposible-to-have-real-friendship-when-no-one-feels-like-they-can/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [At the end of the day, there are some things you just cant help but talk about. Some things we just dont want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemantsmarty/at-the-end-of-the-day-there-are-some-things-you-just-cant-help-but/) [Hemantsmarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hemantsmarty/) > [“You and I have a connection that nothing, not on heaven or earth, or even hell, could ever break. If you want to talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-hand/you-and-i-have-a-connection-that-nothing-not-on-heaven-or-earth-or/) [Cynthia Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-hand/) > [People that want to talk can talk. Even a parrot talks. People are always going to have their thoughts on what they're going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anderson-silva/people-that-want-to-talk-can-talk-even-a-parrot-talks-people-are/) [Anderson Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anderson-silva/) > [I don't want to go on a talk show and talk about stuff I don't know about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhiannon-giddens/i-don-t-want-to-go-on-a-talk-show-and-talk-about-stuff-i-don-t-know/) [Rhiannon Giddens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhiannon-giddens/) > [I've worked on shows where the actors don't talk to each other, and if they want to talk to each other, they talk through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocky-carroll/i-ve-worked-on-shows-where-the-actors-don-t-talk-to-each-other-and-if/) [Rocky Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocky-carroll/) > [“When you want to talk about who made me, you talk to me. Who made me is ME.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/when-you-want-to-talk-about-who-made-me-you-talk-to-me-who-made-me-is/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [“Do you need to get that? Wherever it is." "If I do, somebody'll just want to talk to me. I'd rather talk to you."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/do-you-need-to-get-that-wherever-it-is-if-i-do-somebody-ll-just-want/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Say Hi first. If there's anything I've learned, it's that if you want to talk to someone, talk to them. Do not wait for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-avenda-o/say-hi-first-if-there-s-anything-i-ve-learned-it-s-that-if-you-want-2/) [Ivan Avendano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-avenda-o/) > [“Say “Hi” first. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that if you want to talk to someone, talk to them. go out on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniela-karpenos/say-hi-first-if-there-s-anything-i-ve-learned-it-s-that-if-you-want/) [Daniela Karpenos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniela-karpenos/) > [I talk about what other people don't want to talk about. Sometimes I talk too much. Sometimes people misconstrued what I say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boosie/i-talk-about-what-other-people-don-t-want-to-talk-about-sometimes-i/) [Boosie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boosie/) > [“Because what it's come down to, after that whole messy spring, that whole tortured summer, all the time since, is this: I no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-makkai/because-what-it-s-come-down-to-after-that-whole-messy-spring-that/) [Rebecca Makkai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-makkai/) > [As a kid books changed how I looked at the world and helped me understand things. Books still deepen me and open my heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-dicamillo/as-a-kid-books-changed-how-i-looked-at-the-world-and-helped-me/) [Kate DiCamillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-dicamillo/) ## 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. 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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": "That’s one of the things books do. 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