Books have always a secret influence on the understanding; we
cannot at pleasure obliterate ideas: he that reads books read more

Books have always a secret influence on the understanding; we
cannot at pleasure obliterate ideas: he that reads books of
science, though without any desire fixed of improvement, will
grow more knowing; he that entertains himself with moral or
religious treatises, will imperceptibly advance in goodness; the
ideas which are often offered to the mind, will at last find a
lucky moment when it is disposed to receive them.

The first time I read an excellent book, it is to me just as if I
had gained a read more

The first time I read an excellent book, it is to me just as if I
had gained a new friend. When I read a book over I have perused
before, it resembles the meeting with an old one.

Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. As by the
one, health is preserved, strengthened, read more

Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. As by the
one, health is preserved, strengthened, and invigorated: by the
other, virtue (which is the health of the mind) is kept alive,
cherished, and confirmed.

The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.

The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.

In a polite age almost every person becomes a reader, and
receives more instruction from the Press than the read more

In a polite age almost every person becomes a reader, and
receives more instruction from the Press than the Pulpit.

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an
exact man.

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an
exact man.

What they're accustomed to is no great matter,
But then, alas! they've read an awful deal.
[Ger., read more

What they're accustomed to is no great matter,
But then, alas! they've read an awful deal.
[Ger., Zwar sind sie an das Beste nicht gewohnt,
Allein sie haben schrecklich viel gelesen.]

When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more read more

When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before

If we encountered a man or rare intellect, we should ask him what
books he read.
read more

If we encountered a man or rare intellect, we should ask him what
books he read.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson,