Quotes about reading

„Just because you read it in a magazine,
Or see it on a TV screen
Don't make it factual.“

—  Michael Jackson American singer, songwriter and dancer 1958 - 2009

Tabloid Junkie
HIStory: Past, Present & Future, Book I (1995)

„After all, I think Forrest was the most remarkable man our Civil War produced on either side…He had never read a military book in his life, knew nothing about tactics, could not even drill a company, but had a genius of strategy which was original, and to me incomprehensible.“

—  Nathan Bedford Forrest Confederate Army general 1821 - 1877

Regarding Forrest's millitary genius, William T. Sherman w:The Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest, by John Allan Wyeth, p.635.

„Read history, works of truth, not novels and romances“

—  Robert E. Lee Confederate general in the Civil War 1807 - 1870

„Your criticism sounds to me as if you have read too many critical books and are too smart in an artificial, destructive, and very limited way.“

—  Flannery O’Connor American novelist, short story writer 1925 - 1964

Source: The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor

„I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.“

—  Jane Austen, book Pride and Prejudice

Source: Pride and Prejudice

„When I'm 80 years old and sitting on my rocking chair, I'll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will ask me: «After all this time?» and I'll say: «Always».“

—  Alan Rickman English film, television and stage actor 1946 - 2016

„Read a little. Meditate more. Think of God all the time.“

—  Paramahansa Yogananda Yogi, a guru of Kriya Yoga and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship 1893 - 1952

„People don't read any more. It's a sad state of affairs. Reading's the only thing that allows you to use your imagination. When you watch films it's someone else's vision, isn't it?"

[Interview in, 15 October 2005]“

—  Lemmy Kilmister British singer-songwriter 1945 - 2015

„We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.“

—  B.F. Skinner American behaviorist 1904 - 1990

As quoted in B. F. Skinner : The Man and His Ideas (1968) by Richard Isadore Evans, p. 73.
Context: We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.

„All you have to do is to pay attention; lessons always arrive when you are ready, and if you can read the signs, you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step“

—  Paulo Coelho, book The Zahir

Source: The Zahir

„Reading is not walking on the words; it's grasping the soul of them.“

—  Paulo Freire educator and philosopher 1921 - 1997

„I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say.“

—  Flannery O’Connor American novelist, short story writer 1925 - 1964

„Some people like to read their bibles in the Hebrew; some like to read it in the Greek; I like to read it in the Holy Spirit“

—  Smith Wigglesworth British evangelist 1859 - 1947

Page 79

„Read. Read. Read. Just don't read one type of book. Read different books by various authors so that you develop different style.“

—  R.L. Stine American writer and producer 1943

„Make sure that you are next year's big success story. Don't fall into the pit of people who have given up on making something of themselves, and make sure you make everything out of yourself. I'm getting too old for this. And when I retire someday, I'm going to want to sit down at a computer and play your games, read your stories, and watch your videos. Don't fall in with the people who have already given up on themselves. You are tomorrow's next big thing.“

—  Scott Cawthon American independent video game designer 1971

„A map says to you.
Read me carefully, follow me closely, doubt me not…
I am the earth in the palm of your hand.“

—  Beryl Markham British writer, aviator, adventurer, racehorse trainer 1902 - 1986

„"Maybe you should try looking a little less smug about what you did last night."
"I do not look smug. Well, no more than usual."
"Please, I can read your face like a very open, very pornographic book. I wish I couldn't."“

—  Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments

Alec Lightwood and Jace Heronale, pg. 535
The Mortal Instruments, City of Heavenly Fire (2014)

„Life is a book and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read.“

—  Cassandra Clare, book Clockwork Princess

Source: Clockwork Princess

„No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love.“

—  Edvard Munch Norwegian painter and printmaker 1863 - 1944

Quote from Munch's text (1889) 'Impressions from a ballroom, New Year's Eve in St. Cloud' - also known as 'The St. Cloud Manifesto'
1880 - 1895