Arouse the mind without resting it on anything.

Arouse the mind without resting it on anything.

The ancestor of every action is a thought.

The ancestor of every action is a thought.

Associate reverently, as much as you can, with your loftiest thoughts.

Associate reverently, as much as you can, with your loftiest thoughts.

We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.

We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.

Thought is valuable in proportion as it is generative.

Thought is valuable in proportion as it is generative.

Worthy books
Are not companions--they are solitudes:
We lose ourselves in them and all our cares.

Worthy books
Are not companions--they are solitudes:
We lose ourselves in them and all our cares.

Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.

Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.

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.