“Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God.”

“There was nothing so dangerous to a king or an emperor as a book. Yes, a great library—a library as magnificent as this one—was a dangerous arsenal, one that kings and emperors feared more than the greatest army or magazine.”

“All things that move between the quiet polesShall be at my command. Emperors and kingsAre but obey'd in their several provinces,Nor can they raise the wind, or rend the clouds;But his dominion that exceeds in thisStretcheth as far as doth the mind of man!A sound magician is a mighty god.”

“For thy sweet love remembr'd such wealth bringsThat then, I scorn to change my state with kings.”

“Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.”

“A library of wisdom, is more precious than all wealth, and all things that are desirable cannot be compared to it. Whoever therefore claims to be zealous of truth, of happiness, of wisdom or knowledge, must become a lover of books.”