I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited.
The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.
One must always be careful of books,' said Tessa, 'and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.'
So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.
What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.
Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.
The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.
I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book.
Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply – I was casually sorry, and then I forgot.
‘I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,’ she said finally. ‘I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.’
If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay,' said Gatsby. 'You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.'
It excited him too that many men had already loved Daisy – it increased her value in his eyes. He felt their presence all about the house, pervading the air with the shades and echoes of still vibrant emotions.