Oh that my words were now written! on that they were printed in
a book!

Oh that my words were now written! on that they were printed in
a book!

Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own.

Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own.

No, no! The energy of life may be
Kept on after the grave, but not begun;
And read more

No, no! The energy of life may be
Kept on after the grave, but not begun;
And he who flagg'd not in the earthly strife,
From strength to strength advancing--only he
His soul well-knit, and all his battles won,
Mounts, and that hardly, to eternal life.

A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted. You should live several lives while reading it.

A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted. You should live several lives while reading it.

Readers are plentiful: thinkers are rare.

Readers are plentiful: thinkers are rare.

He ne'er is crowned with immortality
Who fears to follow where airy voices lead.

He ne'er is crowned with immortality
Who fears to follow where airy voices lead.

You, O Books, are the golden vessels of the temple, the arms of
the clerical militia with which the read more

You, O Books, are the golden vessels of the temple, the arms of
the clerical militia with which the missiles of the most wicked
are destroyed; fruitful olives, vines of Engaddi, fig-trees
knowing no sterility; burning lamps to be ever held in the hand.

Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.