Charles Bock Quotes

I love to read. I was in AP English in high school, and we were assigned books every few months. 'Moby Dick' and 'The Great Gatsby' are two of my favorite ones.

All summer, I read fiction because you must read for the pleasure and beauty of it, and not only for research. I don't read thrillers, romance or mystery, and I don't read self-help books because I don't believe in shortcuts and loopholes.

I was always a good student, but I didn't read that much until I was 18 and I was working my way through college.

I was always on set, I was always working, so my study was down to the bare minimum required. So I am one of the few who didn't study 'Lord of the Flies.'

When I was a kid, I went through the whole process of reading great literature and trying to be very widely read.

I was fantastically well versed by the time I left school. I had a teacher who put 'A Clockwork Orange' my way, and 'Catcher in the Rye.'

I never read a book before previewing it; it prejudices a man so.

The writer studies literature, not the world. He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write.

My head was always bubbling over with facts and it seems to me this had little to do with my paying close attention in school and more to do with my voracious and omnivorous reading habits.

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

The kids who speak well, are articulate and intelligent, are all readers.

Literature has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I can't think back before a time that I didn't love writing and reading. When I was really young, my mother would read poems to me. I loved Edgar Allan Poe - I am sure I didn't understand it, but I loved it.

We didn't have a television, so I grew up with books. This isn't to suggest I'm an intellectual, but I do read a lot because part of acting is an exploration of literature.

One can't write without having read - you have to read before beginning to write - and universities offer a very good opportunity to read.

For me, when I read a book, I'm very much about detail.

We'd never expect to understand a piece of music on one listen, but we tend to believe we've read a book after reading it just once.

Whenever I am sent a new book on the lively arts, the first thing I do is look for myself in the index.

I don't read books. I read 'On the Road' in high school, and that was awesome, so I guess that's my favorite book. 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' even though I didn't read it, that's the greatest story. SparkNotes came in when I was in high school, and that was the greatest invention.

I haven't read for pleasure in 35 years. I mean, I get a lot of pleasure from what I read... For me, it's gotten so that it doesn't seem as though I've read a book unless I've written about it. It really seems the completion of the reading process.

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.

As for what's the most challenging aspect of teaching, it's convincing younger writers of the importance of reading widely and passionately.

I do think digital media encourages speed-reading, which can be fine if one is simply seeking information. But a serious novel or work of history or volume of poetry is an experience one should savor, take time over.

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.

Besides the aesthetics, besides teaching an appreciation of T.S. Eliot, a basic need is fulfilled when you teach English at CUNY.

As a kid, I spent every summer bent over a stack of books, obsessively writing detailed reports on each one.