We get no good
By being ungenerous, even to a book,
And calculating profits--so much help
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We get no good
By being ungenerous, even to a book,
And calculating profits--so much help
By so much reading. It is rather when
We gloriously forget ourselves, and plunge
Soul-forward, headlong, into a book's profound,
Impassioned for its beauty, and salt of truth--
'Tis then we get the right good from a book.

The proper study of mankind is books.

The proper study of mankind is books.

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.

Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.

Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.

Man ceased to be an ape, vanquished the ape, on the day the first book was written.

Man ceased to be an ape, vanquished the ape, on the day the first book was written.

Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.

Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.

A library is thought in cold storage.

A library is thought in cold storage.

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends and the most patient of teachers.

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends and the most patient of teachers.

All books grow homilies by time; they are
Temples, at once, and Landmarks.

All books grow homilies by time; they are
Temples, at once, and Landmarks.