A Few Quotes from Books about Books and Libraries and Reading that I Like

Portrait of Maria Zambaco by Edward Byrne-Jones (1870)

“We are rare and we are weird…there is nothing you can do to change us…Really, don’t try. We are so happy, in our own way…Be glad of all the benefits it will bring, rather than lamenting all the fresh air avoided, the friendships not made, the exercise not taken, the body of rewarding and potentially lucrative activities, hobbies, and skills not developed. Leave us be. We’re fine. More than fine. Reading’s our thing.”― Lucy Mangan, Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading

The Station of Saint-Lazar by Edouard Manet (1873)

“Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul.”― Joyce Carol Oates

John Keats by Joseph Severn (1821)

“We read to know we're not alone.”― William Nicholson, Shadowlands: A Play

Portrait of Duranty by Edgar Degas (1879)

“It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.” ― James Baldwin

Bookworm by Karl Spitzweg (1850)

“I still find libraries astonishing; I still think they speak to our better instincts. The library remains one of the few places in the world where you don’t have to buy anything, know anyone, or believe anything to enter in.”― Katherine Rundell

In the Bookshop by Viktor Vasnetsov (1876)

“There's always a story. It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.”― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

Reading Girl by Gustav Adolph Hennig (1828)

“It's the secret we never, ever tell our children. No adult ever read a book because it's good for us. We read because it is fun.”― Jacqueline French

The Girl Reading a Book by Jean Honoré Fragonard (1776)

“The main effort of arranging your life should be to progressively reduce the amount of time required to decently maintain yourself so that you can have all the time you want for reading.”― Norman Rush

Reading a Storybook by James Tissot (1878-79)

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.