“A book without conversation, is like a life without friends, you know it's going to end, but you want it to be soon.”

“The real cocktail party conversation would probably go something like this:"Actually, I have a degree in geography.""Geography? Wow, I'm terrible with maps. I bet YOU know all your state capitals, though!"(Geographer's smile freezes, left eye starts to twitch uncontrollably.)”

“Reading a book, and taking the time to ruminate and make inferences and engage the imaginational processing, is more cognitively enriching, without a doubt, than the short little bits that you might get if you're into the 30-second digital mode.”

“They think they know the book by its cover, but the book knows what it is. Now he knew better; if the book never opens up and comes out, it can be warped to fit the image others see.. . .No, a book wasn't invulnerable to the appearance of its cover, not by any means.”

“As the physicist John Wheeler said, “If you don’t kick things around with people, you are out of it. Nobody, I always say, can be anybody without somebody being around.”

“There'll be times when the only refuge is books. Then you'll read as if you meant it, as if your life depended on it.”

“Whatever you do in your life, always go the distance.”