The Victorians used to tell us fiction rots the mind when in fact it rots the soul.
Sep 022020
Reading
The dead alive and busy.
—Vaughan
Aug 102020
We read, and imagine we can write; and write, and imagine we can think.
Jun 172020
So many readers seem delighted to find their own thoughts in an author; didn’t they hope for something better?
Feb 282020
The good reader blames himself first for obscurity, and to punish this habit with nonsense is worse than bad writing: it is depraved conduct.
Dec 232019
Intellectuals have to do a lot of hate-reading.
Nov 292019
Many modern ills trace to the fateful decision to teach stupid people how to read.
Nov 282019
It is more common to talk well than to listen well, and to write well than to read well.
Jul 152019
It is a great honor for a book to be burned.
Feb 282019
The Two Kinds of Useful Books
1. Technical, scientific, mathematical
2. Hurts your feelings
Oct 152018
If you’re going to read only one book on a subject, don’t bother.