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It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.

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If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.

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Oh! it is absurd to have a hard-and-fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't. More than half of modern culture depends on what one ...more

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Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful t...more

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You talk books away," he said; "why don't you write one?" "I am too fond of reading books to care to write them, Mr. Erskine. I should like to write a...more

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The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

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As for being poisoned by a book, there is no such thing as that. Art has no influence upon action. It annihilates the desire to act. It is superbly st...more