Is this true or only clever?

History is a pageant and not a philosophy.

Good as it is to inherit a library, it is better to collect one.

Any ordinary man can...surround himself with two thousand books...and thenceforward have at least one place in the world in which it is possible to be happy.

A conventional good read is usually a bad read, a relaxing bath in what we know already. A true good read is surely an act of innovative creation in which we, the readers, become conspirators.

The man who has a library of his own collection is able to contemplate himself objectively, and is justified in believing in his own existence.

Friendship is a word, the very sight of which in print makes the heart warm.