I love vast libraries; yet there is a doubt,
If one be better with them or without,--
read more

I love vast libraries; yet there is a doubt,
If one be better with them or without,--
Unless he use them wisely, and, indeed,
Knows the high art of what and how to read.

Shelved around us lie
The mummied authors.

Shelved around us lie
The mummied authors.

A library is but the soul's burial-ground. It is the land of
shadows.

A library is but the soul's burial-ground. It is the land of
shadows.

The medicine chest of the soul.

The medicine chest of the soul.

That place that does contain
My books, the best companions, is to me
A glorious court, where read more

That place that does contain
My books, the best companions, is to me
A glorious court, where hourly I converse
With the old sages and philosophers;
And sometimes, for variety, I confer
With kings and emperors, and weigh their counsels;
Calling their victories, if unjustly got,
Unto a strict account, and, in my fancy,
Deface their ill-placed statues.

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.

If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library.

If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in a library.

A circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of
diabolical knowledge.

A circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of
diabolical knowledge.

Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.

Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.