Syd L

“What we need to understand is that books weren't written so that young people could write essays about them, but so that they could read them if they really wanted to.

Knowledge, academic track record, career, and social life are one thing. Our intimacy and cultural awareness as readers are quite another.”
― Daniel Pennac, Comme un roman

“Grasp the subject; the words will follow.”
― Cato The Elder

“But Erin has empathy, lots of it, so much it hurts sometimes, so much that other people's pain turns into her own pain and makes her completely incapable of doing anything useful for anyone. That's why it's easier to avoid it than to engage. It's easier to try to ignore it than try to comfort whoever's hurting, because usually that backfires and makes things worse.”
― Amy Reed, The Nowhere Girls

“We human beings build houses because we're alive, but we write books because we're mortal. We live in groups because we're sociable, but we read because we know we're alone. Reading offers a kind of companionship that takes no one's place, but that no one can replace either.”
― Daniel Pennac, Comme un roman