“This, then, is the new illiteracy, the illiteracy of those who can read but don't. […] This new illiteracy is more pernicious than the old, because unlike the old illiteracy it does not debar its victims from power and influence, although like the old illiteracy it disqualifies them for it. Those long-dead men and women who learned to read so that they might read the Bible and John Bunyan would tell us that pride is the greatest of all sins, the father of sin. And the victims of the new illiteracy are proud of it. If you don't believe me, talk to them and see with what pride they trumpet their utter ignorance of any book you care to name.”
"From a house on the Borderland", Horrorstruck (1987), Reprinted in Gene Wolfe, Castle of Days (1992)
Nonfiction
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Gene Wolfe 102
American science fiction and fantasy writer 1931–2019Related quotes
“Illiteracy, both in words and numbers, is the foundation of financial struggle.”
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!
“Wisdom and intellect is every man's friend, ignorance and illiteracy are his enemies.”
Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 467.
Regarding Knowledge & Wisdom, General
[Cain Makes Inroads in Ga. Senate Bid, 2004-07-18, Washington Post, Manuel, Roig-Franzia, page-A05, http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A58347-2004Jul17, 2011-10-15]
about the formation of Planned Parenthood
“My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy.”
Source: The Ophiuchi Hotline (1977), Chapter 5 (p. 49)
“To a philosopher all news is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea.”
The Moser report on Literacy and Numeracy http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/moserec.html
The Journals of Arnold Bennett, ed. Newman Flower (pub. Cassell, 1932)
