“...books, ingeniously coupled with music and alcohol, enabled the Irish to transcend reality.”

“If you have read 6,000 books in your lifetime, or even 600, it's probably because at some level you find 'reality' a bit of a disappointment.”

“Because to the poor, books are not diversions. Book are siege weapons.”

“My books have been part of my life forever. They have been good soldiers, boon companions. Every book has survived numerous purges over the years; each book has repeatedly been called onto the carpet and asked to explain itself. I own no book that has not fought the good fight, taken on all comers, and earned the right to remain. If a book is there, it is there for a reason.”

“Electronic books are ideal for people who value the information contained in them, or who have vision problems, or who like to read on the subway, or who do not want other people to see how they are amusing themselves, or who have storage and clutter issues, but they are useless for people who are engaged in an intense, lifelong love affair with books. Books that we can touch; books that we can smell; books that we can depend on.”

“People who prefer e-books...think that books merely take up space. This is true, but so do your children and Prague and the Sistine Chapel.”

“Good books to not invite unanimity. They invite discord, mayhem, knife fights, blood feuds.”