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“I believe that the phrase ‘obligatory reading’ is a contradiction in terms; reading should not be obligatory. Should we ever speak of 'obligatory pleasure'? Pleasure is not obligatory, pleasure is something we seek. 'Obligatory happiness'! [...] If a book bores you, leave it; don’t read it because it is famous, don’t read it because it is modern, don’t read a book because it is old. If a book is tedious to you, leave it, even if that book is 'Paradise Lost' — which is not tedious to me — or 'Don Quixote' — which also is not tedious to me. But if a book is tedious to you, don't read it; that book was not written for you. Reading should be a form of happiness, so I would advise all possible readers of my last will and testament—which I do not plan to write— I would advise them to read a lot, and not to get intimidated by writers' reputations, to continue to look for personal happiness, personal enjoyment. It is the only way to read.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, Professor Borges: A Course on English Literature

“Ero talmente abituato a pensare e immaginare tutto secondo i libri e a rappresentarmi ogni cosa al mondo così come io stesso l’avevo inventata prima nei miei sogni, che lì per lì non capii neppure quella strana circostanza. Ma ecco quel che accadde: Liza, offesa e schiacciata da me, aveva capito molto più di quanto immaginassi. Aveva capito, di tutto, ciò che una donna capisce sempre prima di ogni altra cosa, se ama veramente, e cioè che ero infelice.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead

“If there is anything Zen strongly emphasizes it is the attainment of freedom; that is, freedom from all unnatural encumbrances. Meditation is something artificially put on; it does not belong to the native activity of the mind. Upon what do the fowls of the air meditate? Upon what do the fish in the water meditate? They fly; they swim. Is not that enough? Who wants to fix his mind on the unity of God and man, or on the nothingness of life? Who wants to be arrested in the daily manifestations of his life-activity by such meditations as the goodness of a divine being or the everlasting fire of hell?”
― D.T. Suzuki, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism

“May I ask you a highly personal question?"

"It's what life does all the time.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater