“Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them in: but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.”

“For every book you buy, you should buy the time to read it.”

“… that when you're buying books, you're optimistically thinking you're buying the time to read them.
(Paraphrase of Schopenhauer)”

“I wish it were as easy to buy time as it is to buy good books.”

“It's against my principles to buy a book I haven't read, it's like buying a dress you haven't tried on.”

“Men are not accustomed to buy books unless they want them.”

“Sir, the fact that the book is in a public library brings no comfort. Books are the one element in which I am personally and nakedly acquisitive. If it weren't for the law I would steal them. If it weren't for my purse I would buy them.”

“Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it's a letdown, they won't buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.”

“Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.”

“The road to ignorance is paved with good editions. Only the illiterate can afford to buy good books now.”