Carsten Henn > Quotes

“Those books which lie closest to our hearts are precisely the books we should give away, so that they may bring others happiness.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“It has been said that books find their own readers—but sometimes they need someone to show them the way.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Reading a lot doesn’t make you an intellectual, any more than eating a lot makes you a gourmet. I’m an egotist, reading purely for my own pleasure, out of love for good stories, not to learn something about the world.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“You see, there is no book that can please everyone. And if there were, it would be a bad book. You can’t be everyone’s friend, because everyone is different. You’d have to be completely lacking in personality, no rough edges or sharp corners. But even then, many people wouldn’t like you, because they need rough edges and sharp corners. Do you understand? Every person needs different books. Because what one person loves with all their heart, might leave another completely cold.”
― Carsten Henn

“Even when an extraordinary book ends at precisely the right point, with precisely the right words, and anything further would only destroy that perfection, it still leaves us wanting more pages. That is the paradox of reading.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“I’m so glad there are books in the world. I hope that’s one thing that never changes!”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“You see, there is no book that can please everyone. And if there were, it would be a bad book. You can’t be everyone’s friend, because everyone is different. You’d have to be completely lacking in personality, no rough edges or sharp corners. But even then, many people wouldn’t like you, because they need rough edges and sharp corners. … Every person needs different books. Because what one person loves with all their heart, might leave another completely cold.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“You know, said the Reader, life is often like that. Sometimes there is kissing and sometimes the kissing stops. The only difference between a novel with a happy ending and one without is the point at which you cease to tell the story.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“I refuse to patronize anyone. Everyone is free in their choice of books. That's the most marvellous thing about it. So much is dictated to us in life; at least we can still choose what we read.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Do you know, people are increasingly neglecting to read? And yet between those covers, you’ll find people, their stories. Within each book lies a heart that begins to beat when someone reads it, because it makes a connection with the reader.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Paper is carbon, he thought. We humans are the same. Books and humans are made of the same stuff.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“You need to read more. It makes the brain flexible, so that anything can fit into it.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Viel lesen macht einen nicht zu einem Intellektuellen. Viel essen macht einen ja auch nicht zu einem Feinschmecker. Ich lese ganz egoistisch zu meinem Vergnügen, aus Liebe zu guten Geschichten, nicht, um etwas über die Welt zu lernen.”
― Carsten Henn, Der Buchspazierer

“Son los que les he puesto yo. Me parecen más apropiados. La gente a la que le gusta leer se merece el nombre de un personaje de novela.”
― Carsten Henn, Der Buchspazierer

“Beim Aufwachen fühlte Carl sich wieder wie ein Buch, das einige Seiten verloren hat.”
― Carsten Henn, Der Buchspazierer

“He’d often dreamed of dying while reading, with a book in his hand so riveting, the transition from life to death passed him by unnoticed.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Although he could barely hold the weight of a hardback book, he couldn't abide paperbacks. Only a hardcover felt protective enough for the valuable words inside keeping them safe from harm. Now that he felt so unprotected himself, with Time and Death gnawing at his every extremity, he wanted security at least for the words that acted as his companion for this brief time.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Denn selbst wenn ein wunderbares Buch an genau der richtigen Stelle mit passenden Worten endete und alles, was noch kommen könnte, diese Perfektion nur zerstören würde, wünschte man sich mehr Seiten. Das war die Schizophrenie des Lesens.”
― Carsten Henn, Der Buchspazierer

“But sometimes life doesn’t allow us too much happiness all at once, as if it was a commodity to be frugal with, for fear of hubris.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“I’m sure you’ve heard what Charlie Chaplin said, ‘A day without laughter is a day wasted.’ We have so few days on this earth, we can’t afford to lose any.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Inside, one late summer’s day, the question that is the raison d’être of every bookshop was being asked: “Can you recommend a good book?”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Some families show their love with food-an extra thick layer of butter on your bread, or a second slice of wurst on top. Others hold each other close and often, sharing warmth to keep the cold of the outside world at bay. For generations, my family have shown their love through books.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“el libro impreso es el mejor método de conservación para los pensamientos y las historias. Por eso ha perdurado durante siglos.”
― Carsten Henn, El hombre que paseaba con libros

“I so enjoyed the last one, especially when they gazed into each other's eyes at the end. A kiss would have been even better, to seal the deal, but on this occasion I'll settle for a gaze.
It was almost more intense than a kiss, don't you think? Some gazes can be.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“He never watched the news, never listened to the radio, never read a newspaper. He would have been the first to admit that he had lost touch with the world. It had been a deliberate decision, once all the reports of incompetent state leaders, ice cap melt, and suffering refugees had begun to sadden him more than the most tragic literary family saga ever could. It had been a form of self-preservation, even though his world had shrunk as a result.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Print is the best preserving agent for thoughts and stories; it keeps them fresh for centuries.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“A Book Walker with no books and no walk is a nonentity, he thought. It was only to be expected that no one was aware of him anymore. He’d already ceased to exist.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“He was unaware that tears had begun streaming from his eyes. Viewed under a microscope, emotional tears look different from those we produce as a reflex to strong winds or chopped onions, which prevent our eyes from drying out, or irritants from entering. Yet as far as we know, crying is unknown in the animal kingdom—it’s uniquely human. Wherever we are from, whatever language we speak, all humans cry. From that perspective, Carl had not been human for many years, since the day he had forgotten how to cry.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Kau tidak bisa berteman dengan semua orang karena setiap orang berbeda. Semua orang memerlukan buku yang berlainan. Karena sesuatu yang dicintai sepenuh hati oleh seseorang mungkin tidak akan menimbulkan kesan apa pun bagi orang lain.”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

“Σε όποια από τις τρεις κατηγορίες και αν ανήκε κάποιος, η στιγμή που ξεκινούσε να διαβάζει ένα βιβλίο ήταν πάντα ιδιαίτερη. Ο Καρλ, ας πούμε, ένιωθε μια κάποια ανησυχία. Θα ανταποκρινόταν το βιβλίο στις προσδοκίες που του είχαν δημιουργήσει ο τίτλος, το εξώφυλλο και η περίληψη; Μήπως κατάφερνε να τις υπερβεί κιόλας; Άραγε θα τον άγγιζαν η γλώσσα και το ύφος της αφήγησης;”
― Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore