“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”

“One receives the impression from his writings that he made it his plan to read any book whatever that no one else can bear to read.”

Robertson Davies book A Voice from the Attic

“Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

“[ Woe be to him that reads but one book. ]”

George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh-born English poet, orator and Anglican priest

“I hadn't originally intended to do any reading, what if I did read one book more or one book less, whether I read or not wouldn't make a difference, I would still be waiting to get cremated.”

Gao Xingjian book Soul Mountain

“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”

Louisa May Alcott book Little Women

“I read the newspapers avidly. It is my one form of continuous fiction.”

Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960) Welsh politician

“It's better not to know authors personally, because the real person never corresponds to the image you form of him from reading his books.”

Italo Calvino (1923–1985) Italian journalist and writer of short stories and novels

“To Anthony life was a struggle against death, that waited at every corner. It was as a concession to his hypochondriacal imagination that he formed the habit of reading in bed — it soothed him. He read until he was tired and often fell asleep with the lights still on.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American novelist and screenwriter

“The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.”

Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) Chilean poet