We’ve compiled a list of famous quotes about reading, from philosophers to Presidents.

What are some quotes about reading?

We list some of the most inspiring, amusing, and inspirational quotes about reading from some of the greats. For centuries people have found solace and inspiration through the words of others. Whether to expand their knowledge or escape into another world, the culture around the written word has helped shaped society today. 

Below, Blackpool Grand has compiled a list of our much-loved quotes, from authors, activists, visionaries, actors, philosopher, poets, and more. Quotes about reading can get you inspired to take the next steps in your reading journey, and remind you of what it’s all about. So, what are you waiting for?

Famous Quotes About Reading

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.”

George R.R. Martin (American novelist and short-story writer, screenwriter, and television producer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire, which was adapted into the Emmy Award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones)

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

Harper Lee (American novelist is best known for her 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird)

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

C.S. Lewis (British writer and lay theologian)

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

Groucho Marx (American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star)

“Classic’ – a book which people praise and don’t read.”

Mark Twain (American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer.)

“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install a lovely bookshelf on the wall.”

Roald Dahl (Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot.)

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

Dr. Seuss (American children’s author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker)

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”

Stephen King (American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels)

“I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.”

Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer, most noted for writing Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)

“The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn’t know how to read.”

Benjamin Franklin (Founding Fathers of the United States. A polymath, he was a leading writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, Freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat)

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”

Walt Disney ( American entrepreneur, animator, writer, voice actor and film producer.)

“We are of opinion that instead of letting books grow moldy behind an iron grating, far from the vulgar gaze, it is better to let them wear out by being read.”

Jules Verne (French novelist, poet, and playwright)

TED Talk: How books can open your mind | Lisa Bu

“My alma mater was books, a good library…. I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.”

Malcolm X (African American Muslim minister and human rights activist)

“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.”

Roald Dahl (British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot)

“Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.”

George Bernard Shaw (Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist)

“Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.”

Abraham Lincoln (American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865)

“The man who does not read good books is no better than the man who can’t.”

Mark Twain (American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer)

“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.”

Napoléon Bonaparte (French military and political leader)

“I guess there are never enough books.”

John Steinbeck (American author and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner)

“Despite the enormous quantity of books, how few people read! And if one reads profitably, one would realize how much stupid stuff the vulgar herd is content to swallow every day.”

Voltaire (French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher)

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”

J.K. Rowling (Joanne Rowling) CH, OBE (British author and philanthropist – Harry Potter Fame)

“Somebody who only reads newspapers and at best books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely near-sighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else.”

Albert Einstein (German-born theoretical physicist, universally acknowledged to be one of the two greatest physicists of all time)

“There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away.”

Emily Dickinson (American poet)

In addition to our Famous Quotes About Reading discover more about World Book Day or, our Top Children’s Authors.

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