
“I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.”
Source: Dead Souls (1842), Chapter XI
“I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.”
1970s, The Education of Mike McManus, TVOntario, December 28 1977
“Beware you are not a fiery, persecuting enthusiast.”
Sermon 37 "The Nature of Enthusiasm"
Sermons on Several Occasions (1771)
Context: Beware you are not a fiery, persecuting enthusiast. Do not imagine that God has called you (just contrary to the spirit of Him you style your Master) to destroy men’s lives, and not to save them. Never dream of forcing men into the ways of God. Think yourself, and let think. Use no constraint in matters of religion. Even those who are farthest out of the way never compel to come in by any other means than reason, truth, and love.
Attributed to Allen by Herb Caen in Reader's Digest, October 1967. For additional citations see this entry from Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/12/08/speed-reading/.
Letter to Churchill, dated 16/1/1912, quoted in The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 140.
“It's like Blackpool, but on speed. Las Vegas.”
Live At The Top Of The Tower [2000]