“Oh kindly books! Like true and trusted friends: What blessed cheer your presence with us lends. Whene'er we spend a pleasant hour with you. We find renewed delight, and treasure's new. Dear Friendly Books.”

“What can we see, read, acquire, but ourselves. Take the book, my friend, and read your eyes out, you will never find there what I find.”

“Friends, books, cheerful heart, and conscience clearAre the most choice companions we have here.”

“Books are keys to wisdom's treasure;Books are gates to lands of pleasure;Books are paths that upward lead;Books are friends. Come, let us read.”

“There is a simple rule: practice a kind of generous selfishness. Give a book to a friend, but don't lend it, because you will never get it back. ~ James Wood, author of The Book Against God.”

“To me a good book is like a quiet friend—a friend who’s happy to share thoughts and feelings with you, who’s always there when you need them. Best of all, this friend doesn’t have any secrets. They trust you to understand them. They take you to their innermost places. They share their sensations and emotions—and they let you experience them. Wherever you go and however you feel, they are always by your side. For an hour, a day, a week, or forever, their life becomes yours. Their story is your story. That’s the kind of book I’m trying to write.”