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

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

The medicine chest of the soul.

The medicine chest of the soul.

Shelved around us lie
The mummied authors.

Shelved around us lie
The mummied authors.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

Thou can'st not die. Here thou art more than safe
Where every book is thy epitaph.

Thou can'st not die. Here thou art more than safe
Where every book is thy epitaph.