Writing about music is like dancing about architecture; it's a really stupid thing to want to do.

Writing about music is like dancing about architecture; it's a really stupid thing to want to do.

In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather read more

In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.

Author: A fool who, not content with having bored those who have lived with him, insists on tormenting generations to read more

Author: A fool who, not content with having bored those who have lived with him, insists on tormenting generations to come.

The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.

The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.

Quotation... A writer expresses himself in words that have been used before because they give his meaning better than he read more

Quotation... A writer expresses himself in words that have been used before because they give his meaning better than he can give it himself, or because they are beautiful or witty, or because he expects them to touch a cord of association in his reader, or because he wishes to show that he is learned and well read. Quotations due to the last motive are invariably ill-advised; the discerning reader detects it and is contemptuous; the undiscerning is perhaps impressed, but even then is at the same time repelled, pretentious quotations being the surest road to tedium.

I must claim the quoter's privilege of giving only as much of the text as will suit my purpose, said read more

I must claim the quoter's privilege of giving only as much of the text as will suit my purpose, said Tan-Chun. If I told you how it went on, I should end up by contradicting myself!

The words of the world want to make sentences.

The words of the world want to make sentences.

There are words which sever hearts more than sharp swords; there are words the point of which sting the heart read more

There are words which sever hearts more than sharp swords; there are words the point of which sting the heart through the course of a whole life.

Criticism is a misconception: we must read not to understand others but to understand ourselves.

Criticism is a misconception: we must read not to understand others but to understand ourselves.