Criticism is a misconception: we must read not to understand others but to understand ourselves.

Criticism is a misconception: we must read not to understand others but to understand ourselves.

To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking -- and since it cannot, in order read more

To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking -- and since it cannot, in order to become its echo I have, in a way, to silence it. I bring to this incessant speech the decisiveness, the authority of my own silence.

That is the point of quotations. One can use another's words to be insulting.

That is the point of quotations. One can use another's words to be insulting.

One must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well.

One must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well.

We should be as careful of the books we read, as of the company we keep. The dead very often read more

We should be as careful of the books we read, as of the company we keep. The dead very often have more power than the living.

Words represent your intellect. The sound, gesture and movement represent your feelings.

Words represent your intellect. The sound, gesture and movement represent your feelings.

Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends.

Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends.

A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword.

A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword.

There's one good kind of writer -- a dead one.

There's one good kind of writer -- a dead one.