David Parlett - Books

Famous quotes containing the word books:

“The books we think we ought to read are poky, dull, and dry;
The books that we would like to read we are ashamed to buy;
The books that people talk about we never can recall;
And the books that people give us, oh, they’re the worst of all.”
—Carolyn Wells (1870–1942)

“All books are either dreams or swords,
You can cut, or you can drug, with words.”
—Amy Lowell (1874–1925)

“Indeed, the best books have a use, like sticks and stones, which is above or beside their design, not anticipated in the preface, not concluded in the appendix. Even Virgil’s poetry serves a very different use to me today from what it did to his contemporaries. It has often an acquired and accidental value merely, proving that man is still man in the world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)