Essential characteristic of the really great novelist: a Christ-like, all-embracing compassion.

Essential characteristic of the really great novelist: a Christ-like, all-embracing compassion.

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.

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.

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.

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them all.

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them all.

Writers are the main landmarks of the past.

Writers are the main landmarks of the past.

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre.

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre.

When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half.

When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half.

I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget.

I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget.