But reading is different, reading is something you do. With TV, and cinema for that matter, everything's handed to you on a plate, nothing has to be worked at, they just spoon-feed you. The picture, the sound, the scenery, the atmospheric music in case you haven't understood what the director's on about... The creaking door that tells you to be stiff. You have to imagine it all when you're reading.

All it takes is one teacher - just one - to save us from ourselves and make us forget all the others.

A well-chosen book saves you from everything, including yourself.

I've never had time to read. But no one ever kept me from finishing a novel I loved.

We keep quiet about what we read. Our enjoyment of a book remains a jealously guarded secret. Perhaps because there`s no need to talk, or because it takes time to distill what we've read before we can say anything. Silence is our guarantee of intimacy. We might have finished reading but we`re still living the book.

Time spent reading, like time spent loving, increases our lifetime.

By making time to read, like making time to love, we expand our time for living.