A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counsellor, a multitude of counsellors. – Henry Ward Beecher

Books that have become classics — books that have had their day and now get more praise than perusal — always remind me of retired colonels and majors and captains who, having reached the age limit, find themselves retired on half pay. – Thomas Bailey Aldrich