A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.

A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.

We get no good
By being ungenerous, even to a book,
And calculating profits--so much help
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We get no good
By being ungenerous, even to a book,
And calculating profits--so much help
By so much reading. It is rather when
We gloriously forget ourselves, and plunge
Soul-forward, headlong, into a book's profound,
Impassioned for its beauty, and salt of truth--
'Tis then we get the right good from a book.

Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time

Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time

Worthy books
Are not companions--they are solitudes:
We lose ourselves in them and all our cares.

Worthy books
Are not companions--they are solitudes:
We lose ourselves in them and all our cares.

But the images of men's wits and knowledges remain in books,
exempted from the wrong of time, and capable read more

But the images of men's wits and knowledges remain in books,
exempted from the wrong of time, and capable of perpetual
renovation.

The profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader. The profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in read more

The profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader. The profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until an equal mind and heart finds and publishes it.

The Bible remained for me a book of books, still divine -- but divine in the sense that all great read more

The Bible remained for me a book of books, still divine -- but divine in the sense that all great books are divine which teach men how to live righteously.

We call some books immortal! Do they live?
If so, believe me, Time hath made them pure.
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We call some books immortal! Do they live?
If so, believe me, Time hath made them pure.
In Books, the veriest wicked rest in peace.

I heard his library burned down and both books were destroyed -- and one of them hadn't even been colored read more

I heard his library burned down and both books were destroyed -- and one of them hadn't even been colored in yet.