A library is an ever-growing entity; it multiples seemingly unaided, it reproduces itself by purchase, theft, borrowings, gifts, by suggesting gaps through association, by demanding completion of sorts. Alberto Manguel More Quotes by Alberto Manguel More Quotes From Alberto Manguel Existing libraries, in their very being, seem to question the authority of those in power. Alberto Manguel libraryauthorityseems In any of my pages in any of my books may life a perfect account of my secret experience of the world. Alberto Manguel secretperfectbook As readers, we are seldom interested in the fine sentiments of a lesson learnt; we seldom care about the good manners of morals. Repentance puts an end to conversation; forgiveness becomes the stuff of moralistic tracts. Revenge - bloodthirsty, justice-hungry revenge - is the very essence of romance, lying at the heart of much of the best fiction. Alberto Manguel revengeheartlying We read to understand, or to begin to understand. We cannot do but to read. Reading almost as much as breathing, is our essential function. Alberto Manguel breathingessentialsreading I remember, as a child, the confusion of not knowing what this place was where I was supposed to spend the night: it's a disquieting experience for a child. And what I would do was quickly unpack my books and go back to a book I knew well and make sure the same text and the same illustrations were there. Alberto Manguel nightbookchildren Deadlines comes as a surprise....superb: a new genre, in fact, combining the pleasures of list-making with that of last-minute eaves-dropping. Alberto Manguel listslastsfacts I wanted to live among books. Alberto Manguel wantedbook I never talked to anyone about my reading; the need to share came afterwords. Alberto Manguel readingshareneeds Old or new, the only sign I always try to rid my books of (usually with little success) is the price-sticker that malignant booksellers attach to the backs. These evil white scabs rip off with difficulty, leaving leprous wounds and traces of slime to which adhere the dust and fluff of ages, making me wish for a special gummy hell to which the inventor of these stickers would be condemned. Alberto Manguel ripwhitebook The starting point is a question. Alberto Manguel starting-pointstarting A society can exist - many do exist - without writing, but no society can exist without reading. Alberto Manguel readingwriting A book brings its own history to the reader. Alberto Manguel readerbook Readers are bullied in schoolyards and in locker-rooms as much as in government offices and prisons. Alberto Manguel lockersgovernmentoffice Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with tempting titles and tantalizing covers. Alberto Manguel pathtryingbook One can transform a place by reading in it. Alberto Manguel reading The world encyclopedia, the universal library, exists, and it is the world itself. Alberto Manguel encyclopedialibraryworld At night, here in the library, the ghosts have voices.... The various qualities of my readings seem to permeate my every muscle, so that when I finally decide to turn off the library light, I carry into my sleep the voices and the movements of the book I've just closed. Alberto Manguel readingsleepbook Reality deals in specifics under the guise of generalities. Literature does the contrary. Alberto Manguel literaturedoereality The American psychologist Julian Jaynes, in a controversial study on the origin of consciousness, argued that the bicameral mind - in which one of the hemispheres becomes specialized in silent reading - is a late development in humankind's evolution, and that the process by which this function develops is still changing. Alberto Manguel developmentreadingmind Most readers, then and now, have at some time experienced the humiliation of being told that their occupation is reprehensible. Alberto Manguel humiliationoccupationreader
