There is no human reason why a child should not admire and emulate his teacher's ability to do sums, rather read more

There is no human reason why a child should not admire and emulate his teacher's ability to do sums, rather than the village bum's ability to whittle sticks and smoke cigarettes. The reason why the child does not is plain enough -- the bum has put himself on an equality with him and the teacher has not.

People do not deserve to have good writings; they are so pleased with bad.

People do not deserve to have good writings; they are so pleased with bad.

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a read more

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.

Literature becomes the living memory of a nation.

Literature becomes the living memory of a nation.

Of course there's a lot of knowledge in universities: the freshmen bring a little in; the seniors don't take much read more

Of course there's a lot of knowledge in universities: the freshmen bring a little in; the seniors don't take much away, so knowledge sort of accumulates...

The republic of letters.
[Fr., La republique des lettres.]

The republic of letters.
[Fr., La republique des lettres.]

Literature was formerly an art and finance a trade; today it is the reverse.

Literature was formerly an art and finance a trade; today it is the reverse.

All that non-fiction can do is answer questions. It's fiction's business to ask them.

All that non-fiction can do is answer questions. It's fiction's business to ask them.

After all, all he did was string together a lot of old, well-known quotations.

After all, all he did was string together a lot of old, well-known quotations.