“The books housed in one's first adult bookshelf are the geological bed of who we wish to become”

“Each and every one of us has moments like these, times when a book becomes more than a book. It is a touchstone and the stories between the pages are reflections of us. They remind us of who we were, who we are now and how we got there. The next time you have a bout of nostalgia, I encourage you not to pull out the old photo album. Head to your bookshelf instead, and see what surfaces. I guarantee it will be more than you think.The pen is mightier than a lot of things. The sword was just the first one down.”

“We become adolescents when the words that adults exchange with one another become intelligible to us.”

“His eyes gravitated towards the wall-to-wall bookshelf at one end of the room. 'You folks like books, I see.”

“I cannot imagine not reading. Some books, of course, are like lovers; you go to bed with them once and fall asleep immediately...But other books become house guests. THey take up residence in the rooms of the mond and never leave.”

“Houses, like people, are apt to become rather eccentric if left too much on their own; this house was the architectural equivalent of an old gentleman in a worn dressing-gown and torn slippers, who got up and went to bed at odd times of day, and who kept up a continual conversation with friends no one else could see.”