“I've developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by far, than I learned anything useful from, except, of course, that some very tedious gentlemen have written books.”

Variant: I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.

2011, Interview with C. S. S. Latha, 2011
Context: I have been an early riser since the beginning. My initial life demanded labour and effort for survival, so I am very hard working by nature. I would toil more than my peers. Be it sports, theatre activities or even reading a book, I would feel I should read faster and more books than the others. Lazing around is not in my nature. Even today, I don't avail a Sunday. I remember when I was a child, during the India–China war, 50 kilometres from my village; there was a railway junction from where the army was dispersing aid to the war field. I accompanied some young men who went there to serve tea and snacks and give a pep talk to boost the soldiers' spirits. I didn't know what exactly this whole act was about, but I was there[. ]

Great Books: The Foundation of a Liberal Education (1954)

Epigram in Muses Library (1737), p. 310.

Sir John Harrington, quoted by Robertson Davies.
A Voice from the Attic (1960)

Source: The Beasties