Books are the building blocks of civilization, for without the written word, a man knows nothing beyond what occurs during his own brief years and, perhaps, in a few tales his parents tell him.

Without books we should very likely be a still-primitive people living in the shadow of traditions that faded with years until only a blur remained, and different memories would remember the past in different ways. A parent or a teacher has only his lifetime; a good book can teach forever.Without books we should very likely be a still-primitive people living in the shadow of traditions that faded with years until only a blur remained, and different memories would remember the past in different ways. A parent or a teacher has only his lifetime; a good book can teach forever.

... the mind must be prepared for knowledge as one prepares a field for planting, and a discovery made too soon is no better than a discovery not made at all.

The dancer becomes the dance. And I am the writing.

When feeding time comes around, there is nothing a hawk likes better than a nice, fat, peaceful dove.

I do not like violence, but ours is a violent time, and there are some men who understand nothing else.

To exist is to adapt, and if one could not adapt, one died and made room for those who could.