I gave a course in Dorchester Library last week, and was delighted to see this plaque in pride of place. Today is World Book Day – the perfect time to share some brilliant quotes about books and reading. (There are lots more here.)
- Books are, let’s face it, better than everything else. Nick Hornby
- Books are the mirrors of the soul. Virginia Woolf
- You’ll never be alone if you’ve got a book. Al Pacino
- To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life. W. Somerset Maugham
- Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. Frederick Douglas
- There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island. Walt Disney
- Reading is a first class ticket to the outer limits of your imagination. Juno Dawson
- Stories … are genuinely symbiotic organisms that we live with, that allow human beings to advance. Neil Gaiman
- Reading makes the world better. Matt Haig
- The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. St Augustine
- What makes lovemaking and reading resemble each other most is that within both of them times and spaces open, different from measurable time and space. Italo Calvino
- The book to read is not the one that thinks for you but the one that makes you think. Harper Lee
- I guess that’s the beauty of books. When they finish they don’t really finish. Markus Zusak
- Books should go where they will be most appreciated, and not sit unread, gathering dust on a forgotten shelf. Christopher Paolini
- If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book. J K Rowling
- I read a lot of junk, but that didn’t matter – you have to dig a heap of rocks if you’re looking for gold. Terry Pratchett
- Wear the old coat and buy the new book. Austin Phelps
