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, books, books!
I had found the secret of a garret room
Piled high with cases in read more

Books, books, books!
I had found the secret of a garret room
Piled high with cases in my father's name;
Piled high, packed large,--where, creeping in and out
Among the giant fossils of my past,
Like some small nimble mouse between the ribs
Of a mastodon, I nibbled here and there
At this or that box, pulling through the gap,
In heats of terror, haste, victorious joy,
The first book first. And how I felt it beat
Under my pillow, in the morning's dark,
An hour before the sun would let me read!
My books!
At last, because the time was ripe,
I chanced upon the poets.

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.

The Wise
(Minstrel or Sage,) out of their books are clay;
But in their books, as from read more

The Wise
(Minstrel or Sage,) out of their books are clay;
But in their books, as from their graves they rise.
Angels--that, side by side, upon our way,
Walk with and warn us!

That is a good book which is opened with expectation and closed
with profit.

That is a good book which is opened with expectation and closed
with profit.

Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book,
that it may be read more

Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.

Readers are plentiful: thinkers are rare.

Readers are plentiful: thinkers are rare.

The covers of this book are too far apart.

The covers of this book are too far apart.

Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some to be chewed and digested.

Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some to be chewed and digested.