“Books are ... companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of mind. Books are humanity in print.”

“Without books the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are the engines of change, windows on the world, "Lighthouses" as the poet said "erected in the sea of time." They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind, Books are humanity in print.”

“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print.[Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Nov. 1980), pp. 16-32]”

“Books represent the accumulated workings of the human mind, the endless treasures of man's thoughts.”

“Books are humanity in print.”

“How do you explain to a nonreader that books aren't just things but treasured friends? Companions?”