—Tennyson
If I have faltered more or less
In my great task of happiness;
If I have moved among my race
And shown no glorious morning face;
If beams from happy, human eyes
Have moved me not; if morning skies,
Books, and my food, and summer rain
Knocked on my sullen heart in vain—
Lord, Thy most pointed pleasure take,
And stab my spirit broad awake.
—R. L. Stevenson
A good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.—Milton
The book which makes a man think the most is the book which strikes the deepest root in his memory and understanding.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
—Shakespeare
No book is worth anything which is not worth much; nor is it serviceable until it has been read and re-read, and loved, and loved again; and marked, so that you can refer to the passages you want in it, as a soldier can seize the weapon he needs in an armoury, or a housewife bring the spice she needs from her store. Bread of flour is good; but there is bread, sweet as honey, if we would eat it, in a good book.—Ruskin
Goodness moves in a larger sphere than justice. The obligations of law and equity reach only to mankind, but kindness and beneficence should be extended to creatures of every species.—Plutarch