“You can't simply put a book down or away.”

“To look at those (few) books in the dawning recognition that what they furnish is not a room, but a self.”

“Reading is how we learn to attach ourselves to ourselves, and to others, and to the world: reading inhabits us with the tendrils of love.”

“On a book by Henry James: "Once you put it down, you simply can't pick it up.”

“Hermes gazed up at the stars. 'My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet--”

“Once you've put one of his [Henry James] books down, you simply can't pick it up again.”

“You weren't put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.”