“Every real reader must read Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: the whole of his/her life of reading will change its meaning.”

“In reality, every reader is, while reading, the reader of his own self.”

“The demand that I make of my reader is that he should devote his whole life to reading my works.”

“That brings me to the real reason for the title: Where does that which happens during reading a book take place? (...) Does not every reader, whether he wants it or not, bring (...) his own experiences and thoughts into the process of reading? (...) Is not every book a mirror in which the reader is reflected, whether he knows it or not? And is not every reader a mirror in which the book is reflected?”

“Lifelong readers continue to read, finding in books the means to enjoy life or endure it”

“To read well, that is, to read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise, and one that will tax the reader more than any exercise which the customs of the day esteem. It requires a training such as the athletes underwent, the steady intention almost of the whole life to this object. Books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they were written.”