“And if the reader has no taste for what he reads, all the time is wasted”

“Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wishes to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.”

“My ideal state as a reader when I’m reading other people is feeling I’m vaguely wasting my time when I’m not reading that novel.”

“If one has not read the newspapers for some months and then reads them all together, one sees, as one never saw before, how much time is wasted with this kind of literature.”

“To read is not a virtue; but to read well is an art, and an art that only the born reader can acquire. The gift of reading is no exception to the rule that all natural gifts need to be cultivated by practice and discipline; but unless the innate aptitude exist the training will be wasted. It is the delusion of the mechanical reader to think that intentions may take the place of aptitude.”

“Every reader, if he has a strong mind, reads himself into the book, and amalgamates his thoughts with those of the author.”