Books and Reading: A Book of Quotations

by John Keats, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf

"Let blockheads read what blockheads write," suggested Lord Chesterfield. W. H. Auden once said, "Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered." And TV celebrity Jerry Seinfeld "The big advantage of a book is that it's very easy to rewind. Close it and you're right back at the beginning."
Over 450 memorable quotes about books and reading fill these pages—with provocative declarations from Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, Andrew Carnegie, Theodore Roosevelt, James Thurber, Anna Quindlen, and Oprah Winfrey, and scores of other writers, political figures, and celebrities.
A handy aid for speech writers and public speakers, this entertaining collection will also delight general readers.

Genres: Books About Books, Nonfiction, Reference

80 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2002

About the author

Rich melodic works in classical imagery of British poet John Keats include " The Eve of Saint Agnes ," " Ode on a Grecian Urn ," and " To Autumn ," all in 1819.

Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley include "Adonais," an elegy of 1821 to John Keats.

Work of the principal of the Romantic movement of England received constant critical attacks from the periodicals of the day during his short life. He nevertheless posthumously immensely influenced poets, such as Alfred Tennyson. Elaborate word choice and sensual imagery characterize poetry, including a series of odes, masterpieces of Keats among the most popular poems in English literature. Most celebrated letters of Keats expound on his aesthetic theory of "negative capability."

Wikipedia page of the author

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

While gleaning my bookshelves I figured I should probably read this before I give it away. It’s just a bunch of quotes about books and reading. Most are fairly interesting and they are roughly grouped together by topic. But this feels more like a cutesy gift you give as a prize for a contest or a stocking stuffer with other items. Not worth paying full price and not worth keeping.

[James Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a wonder to think that behind each of these quotes resides the key to the success of each person being quoted. Benjamin Franklin, Gladstone, Borges, Auden, Churchill - all built to varying degrees by their reading. What is more fascinating to my mind is the denigration of this type of input across my generation. We are people not built on books. Lucky in that education is available widely to us, and books are free and so on, but ever diminishingly will we be a people built on reading. We are built by media now. I wonder, a simple sign of a learned person give or take would have related to the amount of books they read or owned, for us today, will we measure the mind by how many hours we spent on our phone? Video media binds us commonly today. Ever faster is authenticity dwindling. One people, mind thought and politics. One vogue. one pair of fucking shoes.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a nice collection of quotes about reading and books! Inexpensive little book on Amazon, to boot.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Let blockheads read what blockheads write," suggested Lord Chesterfield. W. H. Auden once said, "Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered." And TV celebrity Jerry Seinfeld "The big advantage of a book is that it's very easy to rewind. Close it and you're right back at the beginning."
Over 450 memorable quotes about books and reading fill these pages—with provocative declarations from Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, Andrew Carnegie, Theodore Roosevelt, James Thurber, Anna Quindlen, and Oprah Winfrey, and scores of other writers, political figures, and celebrities.
A handy aid for speech writers and public speakers, this entertaining collection will also delight general readers.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice book of quotations about books and reading that I picked up at the Library of Congress gift shop. Readers will find lots of kindred spirits quoted within these pages!

[Appu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

While too slim a volume to capture all the great quotes and gestalt of reading and the written world, it is too good of a collection to ignore. From varied sources like Groucho Marx to Dylan Thomas and around again, this volume will give anyone needing a pithy or witty comment about the value of the written word, the import of a good book, or a simple rejoinder to a less literary friend's comment enough fuel for sometime. As with many of Dover Thrift Editions, it is simple and by no means covers all quotes on the subject, but as a thing to which one can return and relish and roll over quotes again and again on the topic of the written word, one could do far worse than this little volume that is well suited to readers and writers alike.

[Pashew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didnt sleep last night until i finished, i know you may say how come a book filled with only quotation can deprive you from sleeping, but my friend those words were small pieces from wisdom and besides this there was another reason for me to read it.

[Annabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a book, found as I was leaving kindred soul Kenny's Books Actually in Singapore. Certainly a book I'll be delving into time and again.