“What kind of life can you have in a house without books?”

“It isn't what kind of house you have that matters. This is not happiness. It's what kind of mind you have, and how you care for your fellow man -- what you can do to help others who can be helped by no one else.”

“A house without books must be sad. Even sadder a house of books without people.”

“Let the grass die. I let almost all of my indoor plants die from neglect while I was writing the book. There are all kinds of ways to live. You can take your choice. You can keep a tidy house, and when St. Peter asks you what you did with your life, you can say, 'I kept a tidy house, I made my own cheese balls.”

“To all my librarian friends, champions of books, true magicians in the House of Life. Without you, this writer would be lost in the Dust.”

“You can go a surprisingly long time without figuring out the kind of person you are and in what direction your life is taking you.”