Sydney Smith Quotes

My whole thing is that I want to explore why you read books, what's the purpose of reading, and maybe that it's not that cool to hate something just because it's popular.

The books I read I do enjoy, very much; otherwise I wouldn't read them. Most of them are for review, for the New York Review of Books, and substantial.

I believe that writing is derivative. I think good writing comes from good reading.

I rarely read or buy a book because of a review.

Sometimes I read reviews, and without exception I will read critical essays that are sent to me. The critical essays are interesting on their own terms.

I don't read for amusement, I read for enlightenment. I do a lot of reviewing, so I have a steady assignment of reading. I'm also a judge for the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which gives awards to literature and nonfiction.

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.

The human mind can hardly remain entirely free from bias, and decisive opinions are often formed before a thorough examination of a subject from all its aspects has been made.

Few people ask from books what books can give us. Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true, of poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, that would be an admirable beginning.

Reviewers do not read books with much care . . . their profession is more given to stupidity and malice and literary ignorance even than the profession of novelist.

Some judge of authors' names, not works, and then Nor praise nor blame the writings, but the men.

People will assume what a record is going to be like and they are loath to even give it a listen.

As a reader, I read quite widely.

I remember, even in college, reading Cliffs Notes about a book and thinking to myself, 'Geez, that sounds like a good book. I should probably read it.'

The more educated we are, the less we are prepared to tolerate views contrary to our own.

Like many writers, I'm usually more interested in reading about authors than their actual works. We're more curious to know how they were written than what they are like to read.

It's nice being married to someone who likes to read because you can indulge in geeky conversations about books.

The mind will ever be unstable that has only prejudices to rest on.

I also really like to read good books and I don't have enough time to do it. So it's really hard for me to imagine willingly submitting myself to a trilogy of books that I've been told are at the fourth grade reading level which isn't a very nice thing to say but.

I read all the great philosophers but most people just hear what they want to hear and it makes it easy for them to brand us devil worshippers.

With the experience to judge, one need not pre-judge.

The greatest obstacle to discovering the truth is being convinced that you already know it.

A man who attempts to read all the new productions must do as the flea does,--skip.

I have heard it remarked that men are not to be reasoned out of an opinion they have not reasoned themselves into.

Opinion is the death of knowledge.