If you never ask yourself any questions about the meaning of a passage, you cannot expect the book to give you any insight you do not already possess.

True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.

The philosopher ought never to try to avoid the duty of making up his mind.

I suspect that most of the individuals who have religious faith are content with blind faith. They feel no obligation to understand what they believe. They may even wish not to have their beliefs disturbed by thought.

The great authors were great readers, and one way to understand them is to read the books they read.

In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.

We are selfish when we are exclusively or predominantly concerned with the good for ourselves. We are altruistic when we are exclusively or predominantly concerned with the good of others.