I still love books. Nothing a computer can do can compare to a book. You can't really put a book on the Internet. Three companies have offered to put books by me on the Net, and I said, 'If you can make something that has a nice jacket, nice paper with that nice smell, then we'll talk.' All the computer can give you is a manuscript. People don't want to read manuscripts. They want to read books. Books smell good. They look good. You can press it to your bosom. You can carry it in your pocket.
Ray BradburyBut we do need a breather. We do need knowledge. And perhaps in a thousand years we might pick smaller cliffs to jump off. The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are. Theyโre Caesarโs praetorian guard, whispering as the parade roars down the avenue, โRemember, Caesar, thou art mortal.โ Most of us canโt rush around, talk to everyone, know all the cities of the world, we havenโt time, money or that many friends. The things youโre looking for, Montag, are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine per cent of them is in a book.
Ray BradburyHow long has it been since you wrote a story where your real love or your real hatred somehow got onto the paper? When was the last time you dared release a cherished prejudice so it slammed the page like a lightning bolt?
Ray BradburyThe merry-go-round was running, yes, but... It was running backward. The small calliope inside the carousel machinery rattle-snapped its nervous-stallion shivering drums, clashed its harvest-moon cymbals, toothed its castanets, and throatily choked and sobbed its reeds, whistles, and baroque flutes.
Ray Bradbury