Quotes from book
Parnassus on Wheels

Parnassus on Wheels

Parnassus on Wheels is a 1917 novel written by Christopher Morley and published by Doubleday, Page & Company. The title refers to the Mount Parnassus of Greek mythology; it was the home of the Muses.


Christopher Morley photo
Christopher Morley photo

“When you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.”

Christopher Morley book Parnassus on Wheels

Variant: When you sell a man a book you don’t sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there’s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book I mean.
Source: Parnassus on Wheels

Christopher Morley photo

“That's what makes it worth while — I'm doing something that nobody else from Nazareth, Maine, to Walla Walla, Washington, has ever thought of.”

Christopher Morley book Parnassus on Wheels

Parnassus on Wheels (1917)
Context: "Lord!" he said, "when you sell a man a book you don't sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue — you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night — there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book I mean. Jiminy! If I were the baker or the butcher or the broom huckster, people would run to the gate when I came by — just waiting for my stuff. And here I go loaded with everlasting salvation — yes, ma'am, salvation for their little, stunted minds — and it's hard to make 'em see it. That's what makes it worth while — I'm doing something that nobody else from Nazareth, Maine, to Walla Walla, Washington, has ever thought of. It's a new field, but by the bones of Whitman, it's worth while. That's what this country needs — more books!"

Similar authors

Christopher Morley photo
Christopher Morley30
American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet 1890–1957
Mario Benedetti photo
Mario Benedetti4
Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet None
Herta Müller photo
Herta Müller28
German-Romanian novelist, poet and essayist None
Marcel Proust photo
Marcel Proust41
French novelist, critic, and essayist None
Olavo de Carvalho photo
Olavo de Carvalho6
Brazilian journalist, essayist and professor of philosophy None
Paul Valéry photo
Paul Valéry89
French poet, essayist, and philosopher None
Mario Vargas Llosa photo
Mario Vargas Llosa30
Peruvian writer, politician, journalist, and essayist None
Maurice Maeterlinck photo
Maurice Maeterlinck21
Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist None
Cesare Pavese photo
Cesare Pavese137
Italian poet, novelist, literary critic, and translator None
Pier Paolo Pasolini photo
Pier Paolo Pasolini3
Italian film director, poet, writer and intellectual None