Reading Quotes | Beyond Motive 2/10

top of page

Reading Quotes

"Watching a movie from beginning to end is like reading, because even though what you see are images, they are telling you a story."

"Watching a movie from beginning to end is like reading, because even though what you see are images, they are telling you a story."

Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban Novelist

Reading, Beginning, End

21

"The decision to write in prose instead of poetry is made more by the readers than by writers. Almost no one is interested in reading narrative in verse."

"The decision to write in prose instead of poetry is made more by the readers than by writers. Almost no one is interested in reading narrative in verse."

Robert Morgan, American Soldier

Reading, Poetry, Decision, Prose

21

"And it's impossible for me to read Henry James."

"And it's impossible for me to read Henry James."

Norman MacCaig, Scottish Poet

20

"And I tell ya, when I sit in that sound booth and started reading the script and starting to get into the character, man, it's an easy jump for me, because I understand what it's all about."

"And I tell ya, when I sit in that sound booth and started reading the script and starting to get into the character, man, it's an easy jump for me, because I understand what it's all about."

Lawrence Taylor, American Athlete

Reading, Character, Man, Sound

20

"Some of the material out there - I don't want to say that it's all bad - but there's a lot of bad stuff out there. You just continue reading scripts, and eventually you find something you connect with."

"Some of the material out there - I don't want to say that it's all bad - but there's a lot of bad stuff out there. You just continue reading scripts, and eventually you find something you connect with."

Jay Hernandez, American Actor

20

"We're not gonna misread our mandate."

"We're not gonna misread our mandate."

Mitch McConnell, American Politician

20

"Many peoples' tombstones should read 'Died at 30, burried at 60.'"

"Many peoples' tombstones should read 'Died at 30, burried at 60.'"

Nicholas M. Butler, American Philosopher

20

"A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us."

"A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us."

W. H. Auden, English Poet

20

"I read a lot - and I read a variety of genres."

"I read a lot - and I read a variety of genres."

Nora Roberts, American Author

Reading, Variety

19

"As a rule, we find what we look for; we achieve what we get ready for."

"As a rule, we find what we look for; we achieve what we get ready for."

James Cash Penney, American Businessman

19

"It's really unfair to working women in America who read celebrity news and think, 'Why can't I lose weight when I've had a baby?' Well, everyone you're reading about has money for a trainer and a chef. That doesn't make it realistic."

"It's really unfair to working women in America who read celebrity news and think, 'Why can't I lose weight when I've had a baby?' Well, everyone you're reading about has money for a trainer and a chef. That doesn't make it realistic."

Rachel Zoe, American Designer

Reading, Money, Women, America, Baby

18

"We tend to put poems into factions. And it restricts our reading."

"We tend to put poems into factions. And it restricts our reading."

Thom Gunn, British Poet

18

"I think technique can be taught but I think the only way to learn to write is to read, and I see writing and reading as completely related. One almost couldn't exist without the other."

"I think technique can be taught but I think the only way to learn to write is to read, and I see writing and reading as completely related. One almost couldn't exist without the other."

John McGahern, Irish Writer

Reading, Writing

18

"When we have spiritual reading at meals, when we have the rosary at night, when we have study groups, forums, when we go out to distribute literature at meetings, or sell it on the street corners, Christ is there with us."

"When we have spiritual reading at meals, when we have the rosary at night, when we have study groups, forums, when we go out to distribute literature at meetings, or sell it on the street corners, Christ is there with us."

Dorothy Day, American Activist

Reading, Christ, Literature, Meetings, Night

18

"You could read Kant by yourself, if you wanted; but you must share a joke with some one else."

"You could read Kant by yourself, if you wanted; but you must share a joke with some one else."

Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish Writer

18

"The ending of a book is, in my experience, both the best and worst part to read. For the ending will often determine whether you love or hate the book.Both emotions lead to disappointment. If the ending was good, and the book was worth your time, then you are left annoyed and depressed because there is no more book to read. However, if the ending was bad, then it's too late to stop reading. You're left annoyed and depressed because you wasted so much time on a book with a bad ending.Therefore, reading is obviously worthless, and you should go spend your time on other, more valuable pursuits."

"The ending of a book is, in my experience, both the best and worst part to read. For the ending will often determine whether you love or hate the book.Both emotions lead to disappointment. If the ending was good, and the book was worth your time, then you are left annoyed and depressed because there is no more book to read. However, if the ending was bad, then it's too late to stop reading. You're left annoyed and depressed because you wasted so much time on a book with a bad ending.Therefore, reading is obviously worthless, and you should go spend your time on other, more valuable pursuits."

Brandon Sanderson, American Author

Reading, End, Books, Disappointment

18

"Anoint, v.: To grease a king or other great functionary already sufficiently slippery."

"Anoint, v.: To grease a king or other great functionary already sufficiently slippery."

Ambrose Bierce, American Journalist

18

"The savage repression of blacks, which can be estimated by reading the obituary columns of the nation's dailies, Fred Hampton, etc., has not failed to register on the black inmates."

"The savage repression of blacks, which can be estimated by reading the obituary columns of the nation's dailies, Fred Hampton, etc., has not failed to register on the black inmates."

George Jackson, American Activist

Reading, Nation, Repression

17

"Hard work makes easy reading or, at least, easier reading."

"Hard work makes easy reading or, at least, easier reading."

M. H. Abrams, American Critic

Reading, Work, Hardwork

17

"We shouldn't have got married, really. Shouldn't have got married. Too young. Not ready for it."

"We shouldn't have got married, really. Shouldn't have got married. Too young. Not ready for it."

Roger McGough, British Poet

17

"There is nothing more distressing or tiresome than a writer standing in front of an audience and reading his work."

"There is nothing more distressing or tiresome than a writer standing in front of an audience and reading his work."

William Gaddis, American Novelist

Reading, Work, Nothing, Writer

17

"I fell asleep reading a dull book and dreamed I kept on reading, so I awoke from sheer boredom."

"I fell asleep reading a dull book and dreamed I kept on reading, so I awoke from sheer boredom."

Heinrich Heine, German Poet

Reading, Boredom

17

"Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy they are, who already possess it."

"Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy they are, who already possess it."

Francois de La Rochefoucauld, French Writer

17

"I didn't read The Haunting of Hill House until sometime early in the 1990's."

"I didn't read The Haunting of Hill House until sometime early in the 1990's."

William Peter Blatty, American Writer

17

"I have read your book and much like it."

"I have read your book and much like it."

Moses Hadas, American Writer

16

"The things I write are for those who are willing to accept a new relationship between the reader and the author."

"The things I write are for those who are willing to accept a new relationship between the reader and the author."

Jerzy Kosinski, Polish Novelist

16

"I think I'm a very good reader of poetry, but obviously, like everybody, I have a set of criteria for reading poems, and I'm not shy about presenting them, so if people ask for my critical response to a poem, I tell them what works and why, and what doesn't work and why."

"I think I'm a very good reader of poetry, but obviously, like everybody, I have a set of criteria for reading poems, and I'm not shy about presenting them, so if people ask for my critical response to a poem, I tell them what works and why, and what doesn't work and why."

Diane Wakoski, American Poet

Reading, Work, Poetry, People, Poems

16

"I started to send my work to journals when I was 26, which was just a question of when I got the courage up. They were mostly journals I had been reading for the previous six or seven years."

"I started to send my work to journals when I was 26, which was just a question of when I got the courage up. They were mostly journals I had been reading for the previous six or seven years."

Marilyn Hacker, American Poet

Reading, Work, Courage, Question

16

"When I read, I'm purely a reader."

"When I read, I'm purely a reader."

Anne Tyler, American Novelist

16

"I remember when I was in my late teens just getting rid of lots of records, realizing I only ever listened to them when I was reading, or watching TV, or doing something else."

"I remember when I was in my late teens just getting rid of lots of records, realizing I only ever listened to them when I was reading, or watching TV, or doing something else."

Jonny Greenwood, English Musician

16

"What is a diary as a rule? A document useful to the person who keeps it. Dull to the contemporary who reads it and invaluable to the student, centuries afterwards, who treasures it."

"What is a diary as a rule? A document useful to the person who keeps it. Dull to the contemporary who reads it and invaluable to the student, centuries afterwards, who treasures it."

Walter Scott, Scottish Novelist

16

"And so we have to be careful with looking at additional stimulus that we don't provoke an increase in the bond rate and then offset a lot of the stimulus we've already got."

"And so we have to be careful with looking at additional stimulus that we don't provoke an increase in the bond rate and then offset a lot of the stimulus we've already got."

Franklin Raines, American Businessman

16

"There are no taboos. Every topic is open, however shocking. It is the way that the topics are handled that's important, and that applies whether it is a 15-year-old who is reading your book or someone who is 55."

"There are no taboos. Every topic is open, however shocking. It is the way that the topics are handled that's important, and that applies whether it is a 15-year-old who is reading your book or someone who is 55."

Robert Cormier, American Author

15

"In the finest critics one hears the full cry of the human. They tell one why it matters to read."

"In the finest critics one hears the full cry of the human. They tell one why it matters to read."

Harold Bloom, American Critic

15

"The head of Fermilab was reading Astonishing Stories when he was ten."

"The head of Fermilab was reading Astonishing Stories when he was ten."

Frederik Pohl, American Writer

15

"I was paid to read Western economic texts. In a way, the regime paid for their own undermining."

"I was paid to read Western economic texts. In a way, the regime paid for their own undermining."

Vaclav Klaus, Czechoslovakian Statesman

15

"I am 82 years old. I imagine that I will keep on writing as long as anyone wants to keep reading."

"I am 82 years old. I imagine that I will keep on writing as long as anyone wants to keep reading."

Tony Hillerman, American Author

Reading, Old, Will, Writing

15

"Learn as much by writing as by reading."

"Learn as much by writing as by reading."

Lord Acton, British Historian

Reading, Writing

15

"It is not the task of a reader to please her subjects."

"It is not the task of a reader to please her subjects."

Joyce Maynard, American Writer

15

"I've read short stories that are as dense as a 19th century novel and novels that really are short stories filled with a lot of helium."

"I've read short stories that are as dense as a 19th century novel and novels that really are short stories filled with a lot of helium."

Lynn Abbey, American Author

15

"Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives. The English reading public explains the reason why."

"Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives. The English reading public explains the reason why."

James Joyce, Irish Novelist

Reading, English, Public, Reason

15

"I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday."

"I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday."

Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Novelist

Reading, Thought, Books

15

"No one ever committed suicide while reading a good book, but many have tried while trying to write one."

"No one ever committed suicide while reading a good book, but many have tried while trying to write one."

Robert Byrne, American Celebrity

Reading, Suicide, Trying

15

"The very definition of the real becomes: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction. The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced. The hyper real."

"The very definition of the real becomes: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction. The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced. The hyper real."

Jean Baudrillard, French Sociologist

15

"I wish I could say it's easy, but honestly, to get ready for a big championship is not as easy as it seems."

"I wish I could say it's easy, but honestly, to get ready for a big championship is not as easy as it seems."

Oksana Baiul, American Athlete

15

"I was reading the poems of Rochester. Rochester made himself out to be bisexual, but I think that was only to shock. Most of his poetry is sexual, even pornographic."

"I was reading the poems of Rochester. Rochester made himself out to be bisexual, but I think that was only to shock. Most of his poetry is sexual, even pornographic."

Thom Gunn, British Poet

Reading, Poetry, Poems

15

"Culture means, I think, that you have widened your experience enough through reading and through being a little bit thoughtful about these things that it has changed your outlook in some ways. And not necessarily made you a better human being but made you see things."

"Culture means, I think, that you have widened your experience enough through reading and through being a little bit thoughtful about these things that it has changed your outlook in some ways. And not necessarily made you a better human being but made you see things."

Joseph Epstein, American Writer

Reading, Experience, Being, Culture

15

"I find it's impossible for me to read Proust."

"I find it's impossible for me to read Proust."

Norman MacCaig, Scottish Poet

15

"One should indeed read Pope with his notes available, in the Twickenham edition possibly, to see what a vast amount he did understand about Homer."

"One should indeed read Pope with his notes available, in the Twickenham edition possibly, to see what a vast amount he did understand about Homer."

Robert Fitzgerald, American Author

15

"That was the problem with reading: you always had to pick up again at the very thing that had made you stop reading the day before."

"That was the problem with reading: you always had to pick up again at the very thing that had made you stop reading the day before."

Nicholson Baker, American Novelist

14

bottom of page