"I'm not saying all publishers have to be literary, but some interest in books would help."
A.N. Wilson, in Bookseller, July, 1996
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."
Ray Bradbury, 1994
"Most of today's books have an air of having been written in one day from books read the night before."
Sebastian-Roch-Nicolas Chamfort, Maxims and Thoughts - 1796
"Take away the art of writing from this world, and you will probably take away its glory."
Francois Rene de Chateaubriand, 1816
"She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain."
Louisa May Alcott
Note: Try as I might I couldn't find any artist attribution for the top illustration. But I love it so much I had to use it. If you know who the artist is, please let me know. If you are the artist and would prefer I not use the image, I'll remove it immediately.
These are fine book quotes. I particularly liked the "Cutting libraries in a recession..." quote. The political class (the lunatic fringe) in my country often calls for banning of books it has never read. What is it about books that makes people, especially those in power, so insecure?
ReplyDelete"I'm not saying all publishers have to be literary, but some interest in books would help."
ReplyDeleteA.N. Wilson, in Bookseller, July, 1996
I enjoyed that comment. I wondered, just how it was meant!
Dave
An excellent question, Prashant. And one that has befuddled us for centuries. I think all governments are uneasy with ideas. Especially ideas that are written down.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's very easy to blame books for all our ills. Banning books is the easy way out.
It never works, but it makes for a pretty fire.
Books don't cause problems.
ReplyDeleteBooks don't solve problems.
Book point out problems and possible solutions.
Banning books is the obvious way of preventing others from seeing problems and employing solutions that are unacceptable to those banning books.
I think we're basically in agreement, Fred.
ReplyDelete