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Anthony Burgess 297
English writer 1917–1993Related quotes
“Possessing these books has become all important to me, because I have become jealous of the past.”
Stealing Books, p. 238.
A History of Reading (1996)

“The more books you read, the more stupid you become.”
Speech (26 June 1965), quoted in Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Mao: The Unknown Story (2005), p. 507
1960s

Card XI : Justice http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/sot/sot22.htm
The Symbolism of the Tarot (1913)
Context: When I possessed the keys, read the book and understood the symbols, I was permitted to lift the curtain of the Temple and enter. its inner sanctum. And there I beheld a Woman with a crown of gold and a purple mantle. She held a sword in one hand and scales in the other. I trembled with awe at her appearance, which was deep and mysterious, and drew me like an abyss.
"You see Truth," said the voice. "On these scales everything is weighed. This sword is always raised to guard justice, and nothing can escape it."
"But why do you avert your eyes from the scales and the sword? They will remove the last illusions. How could you live on earth without these illusions?
"You wished to see Truth and now you behold it! But remember what happens to the mortal who beholds a Goddess!"

Source: Slammerkin

“A book is a good substitute for a man. Fiction, preferably.”
Kamala Suraiyya Das (Wages of Love)

“skulduggery pleasant is the best book I've ever read and has enspired myself to become an author.”

“Books are a poor substitute for female companionship, but they are easier to find.”
Source: The Wise Man's Fear