The thing that teases the mind over and over for years, and at last gets itself put down rightly on paper — whether little or great, it belongs to Literature. – Sarah Orne Jewett, letter to Willa Cather

To literature belongs the mighty privilege of embalming, for all ages, the departed kings of intellect. There they repose within the eternal pyramids of their fame. – Robert Aris Willmott, “Glimpses of the Pageant of Literature,” c.1844

The test of real literature is that it will bear repetition. We read over the same pages again and again, and always with fresh delight. – Samual McChord Crothers

I… was seized very early with a passion for literature, which has been the ruling passion of my life, and the great source of my enjoyments. – David Hume (1712–1776)