Book Quotes

  

"One is taught to refrain from irony, because mankind does tend to take it literally." Zuleika Dobson

True, unfortunately, those with no intelligence often have no sence of humour or the other way around.

"Of what use is it to a person to have learned to read and write, if he leaves the thinking to others?" Ernst R. Hauschka

See the quote above. If people would read more, they could think better.

"Books: a sanctuary for my heart." Kim Michele Richardson, The Mountains We Call Home

And of mine and probably of everyone who reads this blog.

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Book Quotes

 

"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet". Aristotle

Education can be fun, but in the end, it really has to be sweet, no matter how it was during the time. I always loved learning and going to school. Yes, I had some teachers who shouldn't have become teachers but in the end, most of them really love their job and do their best.

"Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history." Oscar Handlin

Oh, if only some people (especially one) would try to understand that.

"Books are such an underrated essential. Every book is a key that unlocks another world, leads us down the path of a different life and offers the chance to explore an unexpected adventure. Every one is a gift of either knowledge, entertainment or pure escapism." Bella Osborne, The Library

Where would we be without books? Still sitting in the trees and eating bananas.

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Book Quotes

"And if anyone objects that they are not worth all that effort, I will cite Cioran (not a classic, at least not yet, but a contemporary thinker who is only now being translated into Italian): 'While the hemlock was being prepared, Socrates was learning a melody on the flute. What good will that be to you?, he was asked. At least I will earn this melody before I die.'" Italo Calvino in "Why Read the Classics?" (IT: Perché leggere i classici?)

Italo Calvino has some of the best quotes about reading. And this one could be relating to a lot of things (like learning a melody) but it certainly is valid for reading.

"That Moment as You’re Reading a Book When You Realize… 'Hey I’ve already been doing that.' That’s when you know you’re on the right track." Johnny Hamilton

Happens a lot. And it reminds me of a quote by Kathleen Kelley (Meg Ryan) in You've Got Mail: "So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?" I'm not sure about that, I like it both ways.

"Writers. Unsungs Gods for they are the creators of worlds." N.N.

They sure are. I just would like to know who said this first. If you know, please, tell me.

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Book Quotes

"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity." Umberto Eco

Those of us who cannot live without books know exactly what he means. Some people don't understand why you don't throw or give away a book once you read them, they have no understand how we relate to those stories.

"To be apolitical is to be political without realizing it." Rosa Luxemburg

I know exactly what she means. Those people who don't go to elections, for example, influence them just as much as those who vote, if not more.

"It's better to have your nose in a book, than in someone else's business" Adam Stanley

And the stories in the book are so much more exciting than those we see in our neighbourhood.

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Book Quotes

"I can live without television, but not without books." Elke Heidenreich, German writer and cabaret artist

I would definitely claim books before television.

"If Liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." George Orwell

Only those, who always think they are right, don't want to hear the opposite.

"There's no shortage of female role models. They're everywhere - in history, in literature, in the news. Just look around." Kerri Russel

For sure!!!

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Book Quotes

"When I'm feeling unwell, I don't go to the pharmacy, but to my bookseller." Philippe Dijan

That's a good advice!!!

"If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!" Umberto Eco

Brilliant thinking. Made me smile.

"Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it's a way of making contact with someone else's imagination after a day that's all too real. ... Reading is bliss." Nora Ephron 

Well said. Nora Ephron was just a great author. Greatly missed.

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Book Quotes

"Every reading of a classic is in fact a rereading." Italo Calvino in "Why Read the Classics?" 

Somehow, he is correct, of course, though it is a first reading for me.

"Of all the worlds created by man, the world of books is the most powerful." Heinrich Heine

I could not agree more.

"The library in summer is the most wonderful thing because there you get books on any subject and read them each for only as long as they hold your interest, abandoning any that don’t, halfway or a quarter of the way through if you like, and store up all that knowledge in the happy corners of your mind for your own self and not to show off how much you know or spit it back at your teacher on a test paper." Polly Horvath

I thought these were the words of a student or school child, for after that the library is always the most wonderful thing. But it looks like this is a children's author.

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Quotes on being Woke

I came across some quotes about being woke lately. And since I am a proud "Wokonian", I just had to put them all together. In most cases, I have no idea who said them first, so if you are or know the originator, please, let me know.

* * *

Originating from African American English, "woke" was first used to mean being aware, informed, and conscious of social injustices and racial inequality.

I found that woke is a professional word for enlightened, multiculturally sensitive. aware, conscious, evolved, inclusive, politically correct. leftist, liberal, progressive. And the opposite would be "slept" or "fell asleep". So, what's wrong with it?

Some people use the word "woke" as if it's supposed to be an insult.
But mostly, they use it because they can't spell "empathetic", "educated", or "enlightened".

Woke = well-informed, up-to-date and alert to injustice in soiciety, especially racism.

Woke = aware, knowledgeable about your community and the world, with the willingness to access and critique systems of oppression.

Proud to be woke - It sure beats being willfully ignorant and racist.

If woke is the opposite of fascist, I am superwoke.

Wokery: a term hi-jacked by the far right to demonise the following values and characteristics, amongst others:

•     Compassion for and empathy with others.
•     Love of truth/facts and hatred of lies/gaslighting and manipulation.
•     Support for social, economic and climate justice.
•     Support for human rights.
•     Anti-corruption/nepotism/cronyism.
•     Respect for and compliance with the rule of law.
•     Upholding democracy and the democratic process.

In other words, people who give a sh*t for more than themselves and who want society to work for the good of all and to leave the world a better place.
(found here on West Country Voices).

10 Symptoms of Woke Mind Virus:
1. You read books, and don't burn them.
2. You embrace science.
3. You are willing to change your mind when new information becomes available.
4. You understand that most issues aren't black and white.
5. You belive in true equality for all people.
6. You like to share.
7. You embrace cooperation.
8. You respect others' rights.
9. You believe culture and arts has value.
10. You care for the planet and all of its life.

If you know more, please, feel free to share. If you disagree, please, think again!

✊☮😴☮✊

Book Quotes

"To hear the classics as a distant echo…" Italo Calvino in "Why Read the Classics?"

That's a good allegory. As if the past resonates within us.

"A book in your hand can be a real lifeline - when the sea of life is too rough, you cling to stories and let them bring you to safety." (Ein Buch in der Hand kann ein echter Rettungsanker sein - wenn die See des Lebens zu rau ist, klammert man sich an Geschichten und lässt sich von ihnen in Sicherheit bringen.) Jasmin Schreiber in "Marianengraben" [Mariana Trench]

This book deals with death and how we deal with it - or not. The quote is one of the best to show us how books can help us get through the difficult parts of life.

"One benefit of summer was that each day we had more light to read by." Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle 

Aren't we lucky to live in an age where we don't have that problem?

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Book Quotes

"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion." Umberto Eco

Like books!!! You can never have enough books.

"I think that writing is very difficult, but so is any job carefully executed. What is a privilege, however, is to do a job to your own satisfaction." Gabriel García Márquez 

And he has always done a great job.

"I wanted to be a reader. I thought everything that needed to be written had already been written or would be. I only wrote the first book because I thought it wasn’t there, and I wanted to read it when I got through. I am a pretty good reader. I love it. It is what I do, really. So, if I can read it, that is the highest compliment I can think of." Toni Morrison 

That's as good a reason to write a book as any. I am glad she did.

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Book Quotes

"Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven't asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go." Clay Christensen

That's a quote that gets me thinking.

"I don't think the reader should be indulged as a consumer, because he isn't one. Literature that indulges the tastes of the reader is a degraded literature. My goal is to disappoint the usual expectations and inspire new ones." Elena Ferrante

Definitely. Those are the best books.

"Reading is not a value in itself! Much more nonsense has been printed since Gutenberg than poor television has been able to broadcast in its 60 years of existence." Helmut Thoma, Austrian media manager

Also true, if you always read the same stuff, you are going nowhere.

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Book Quotes

"It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones." Umberto Eco 

The man is so right.

"Books have a sense of honor. Once you've lent them, they never come back." Theodor Fontane 

Does that mean we shouldn't lend books? I love discussing books with others and often, the only way to do this is to lend them mine.

"I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which has done real evil." Voltaire 

Some people should be made aware of that. But those are usually the ones who don't read in the first place and don't want to get people to get ideas or be smart. (And yes, I'm referring to a certain president who is proud to be dumb.)

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Book Quotes

"It is the artist's job to create sunshine when there is none." Romain Rolland, Nobel Prize in Literature 1915

And it always works, if we let them into our minds.

"Books have the power to make everything better, but it's hard to engage with that power if we've forgotten that reading is supposed to feel good, first and foremost." F. Scott Fitzgerald (Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby)

And no matter the subject of the book, if we enjoy it, it makes our lives a little better, page after page.

"Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind." Virginia Woolf

There is a German folk song "Thoughts are Free" (Die Gedanken sind frei). It's really old but it still matters. A lot.

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Book Quotes

Some political quotes I picked up lately and want to share. I guess, if you are Republican I have to warn you, this could wake you up.

"Seniors voted to gut Social Security.

Men voted for their wives and daughters to die from miscarriages.

Immigrants voted for deportation raids.

Poor people voted for tax cuts for billionaires.

Women voted to have fewer rights than men.

Police voted for a convicted felon."

@asclepiasyriaca

I don't understand people like that.

"Republicans are men of narrow vision, who are afraid of the future." Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter was one of the few intelligent American presidents.

"When you were asked to mask to save lives - you said no, my body, my rights.

When you were asked to vaccinate to save lives - you said no, my body, my rights.

When we demand strict gun laws to save lives - you said this is the land of the free.

But you want to decide what a woman does with her body."

Dr. Mursi, MD.

See my first comment.

And don't forget:
The richest 1% own almost half of the world's wealth, while the poorest half of the world own just 0.75%.

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Book Quotes

"The more languages you have, the more worlds you belong to." Marta Dzuirosz

So true. It goes with another quote that you get a new soul with every new language.

"Those who can read hold the key to great deeds, to undreamed-of possibilities." Aldous Huxley

Aren't we the lucky ones?

"Where do I find all the time not to read so much." Karl Kraus

I'd like the answer to that question.

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Book Quotes

Quotes about the all important history:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana.

(1863-1952), Spanish-American philosopher.

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce". Karl Marx

(1818-1883) German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist.

"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it". Winston Churchill

(1874-1965) British statesman, military officer, and writer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Look at those dates! They knew it already and we still haven't learned. 😱

☮️☮️☮️

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Book Quotes

"From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover that you have wings." Helen Hayes

True. Even if your parents are the smartest and most educated in the world, nobody knows everything. But we can learn so much from books that it will almost make us fly.

"If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them." George Orwell

Even truer. As we can always see when there have been elections.

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." Plato

Another true statement. Worst are those who think they know everything but really know nothing. They will shout loudest. And those who shout loudest are usually in the wrong.

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Book Quotes

    

"Books are flying carpets into the realm of fantasy." James Daniel

I like that allegory.

"If you are depressed you are living in the past if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace, you are living in the present." Lao Tzu

He was a smart guy. What was true then, many, many centuries ago, is still true today.

"Every book is a dialogue between author and reader." Ludwig Reiners

And I love talking to all those smart people from now and then.

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Book Quotes

    

"To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge." Nicolaus Copernicus

I know that I know nothing. Another quote by a smart guy, Socrates. He was so right then as he is now.

"If books could have more, give more, be more, show more, they would still need readers who bring to them sound and smell and light and all the rest that can’t be in books. The book needs you. " Gary Paulsen

That's a good point. I'm glad I can contribute to the meaning of existence for books.

"Too much of anything is bad, but too many books is barely enough." N.N.

Definitely true.

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Book Quotes

    

"Speak the truth in a million voices. It is silence that kills!" St. Catherine of Siena

It's always best to stick to the truth. Especially if you don't have a really great memory.

"In journalism just one fact that is false prejudices the entire work. In contrast, in fiction one single fact hat is true gives legitimacy to the entire work. That's the only difference, and it lies in the commitment of the writer. A novelist can do anything he wants so long as he makes people believe in it." Gabriel García Márquez

Well, I have a problem with fiction that contradicts itself. If you are twenty and someone else is thirty at the same time, you better not be twenty-five and the other one is forty a couple of pages later.

"Book's are time travel. True readers all know this. But books don't just take you back to the time in which they were written; they can take you back to different versions of yourself." Peter Swanson, Eight Perfect Murders

That's the only time travel I believe in.

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