Bill Hicks Quotes

Some read to think, these are rare; some to write, these are common; and some read to talk, and these form the great majority.

Reading without purpose is sauntering not exercise.

I have said it often and I will say it again: I believe you learn to read when you are young, then read to learn for the rest of your life.

Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.

It sounds so geeky, but I really do like studying and reading, and if I'm not working on 'Harry Potter,' then my greatest relaxation is to sit with a book.

For solace, I love a book that opens up my perspective.

Of course there is no denying the possible pleasure of holing up with a fat, slow-moving, mediocre novel; still, we all know that we can indulge ourselves in that fashion only so much. In the end, we read not for reading's sake, but to learn.

Practically everyone I know now is from a middle- or upper-middle-class background, and I no longer have the huge chip on my shoulder that I carried around for so many years. I'm not sure it comes out much in the work, but coming from this kind of background is absolutely central to my identity, to my sense of who I am.

Surely we all occasionally buy books because of a daydream we're having - a little fantasy about the people we might turn into one day, when our lives are different, quieter, more introspective, and when all the urgent reading, whatever that might be, has been done. We never arrive at that point, needless to say.

I spent my entire time reading books and going to the cinema, just to escape.

Half the time I pick up a book, that's what I'm trying to get.

I remember reading a book called, "From Niggas To Gods, Part One" by Andre Akil; the book was so easy to read, it was in capital letters with exclamation marks because Akil was screaming at us. It was about getting out of the mindset that this system has put you in. This mindset that makes you feel like your circumstances are permanent and wherever you're born is where you're going to end up. You have to realize who you are.

Reading well makes children more interesting both to themselves and others, a process in which they will develop a sense of being separate and distinct selves.

Books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life.

A well-chosen book saves you from everything, including yourself.

I don't think we should read for instruction but to give our souls a chance to luxuriate.

It's pretty lonely and sad to be single. Every night was the same for me, I'd go home and curl up in bed with my favorite book. Well, actually it was a magazine.

I read Dad's books like I did before, now things are crystal clear. Lock the door in the bathroom, now I just can't get caught in here.

. . . finally, I couldn't imagine how I could live without books, and I stopped dreaming about marrying that Chinese prince. . . .

in reading ... stories, you can be many different people in many different places, doing things you would never have a chance to do in ordinary life. It's amazing that those twenty-six little marks of the alphabet can arrange themselves on the pages of a book and accomplish all that. Readers are lucky - they will never be bored or lonely.

I read a book one day and my whole life was changed.

I love to read. I remember hearing that the average author takes two years to write a book. So when I read a book, I feel like I am getting two years of life experiences.

Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.

I educated myself, and it made me feel good. I went to museums. I read books. I did all the things, pretty much, that you would do in school. I would never want my kids to leave school, though, I'm really for education.

A well-stocked mind is safe from boredom.