“If many great books seem unreadable and unintelligible … it may be because we have not for a long time learned to read by reading them. Great books teach people not only how to read them, but how to read all other books.”
Great Books: The Foundation of a Liberal Education (1954)
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Robert Maynard Hutchins 38
philosopher and university president 1899–1977Related quotes

Source: How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”
Source: A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

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

“That was one thing about books: once you read them they couldn’t be unread.”
Source: The Magician's Land

As quoted in B. F. Skinner : The Man and His Ideas (1968) by Richard Isadore Evans, p. 73

“You can't just be reading books all the time and leave the writting of them to others.”
Source: Night of the Soul Stealer