“Great speed in reading is a dubious achievement; it is of value only if what you have to read is not worth reading. A better formula is this: Every book should be read no more slowly than it deserves, and no more quickly than you can read it with satisfaction and comprehension.”
― How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
― How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
“But war is pain, and hate is woe.”
― Moby Dick
― Moby Dick
“There is no steady unretracing progress in this life; we do not advance through fixed gradations, and at the last one pause:— through infancy's unconscious spell, boyhood's thoughtless faith, adolescence' doubt (the common doom), then scepticism, then disbelief, resting at last in manhood's pondering repose of If. But once gone through, we trace the round again; and are infants, boys, and men, and Ifs eternally. Where lies the final harbor, whence we unmoor no more? In what rapt ether sails the world, of which the weariest will never weary? Where is the foundling's father hidden? Our souls are like those orphans whose unwedded mothers die in bearing them: the secret of our paternity lies in their grave, and we must there to learn it.”
― Moby Dick: or, the White Whale
― Moby Dick: or, the White Whale
“Finally, do not try to understand every word or page of a difficult book the first time through. This is the most important rule of all; it is the essence of inspectional reading. Do not be afraid to be, or to seem to be, superficial. Race through even the hardest book. You will then be prepared to read it well the second time.”
― How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
― How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
“Good books are over your head; they would not be good for you if they were not. And books that are over your head weary you unless you can reach up to them and pull yourself up their level.”
― How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
― How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
Nandan’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Nandan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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