Literature is without proofs. By which it must be understood that it cannot prove, not only what it says, but even that it is worth the trouble of saying it. – Roland Barthes
The bastard form of mass culture is humiliated repetition… always new books, new programs, new films, news items, but always the same meaning. – Roland Barthes
Through the mythology of Einstein, the world blissfully regained the image of knowledge reduced to a formula. – Roland Barthes
All official institutions of language are repeating machines: school, sports, advertising, popular songs, news, all continually repeat the same structure, the same meaning, often the same words: the stereotype is a political fact, the major figure of ideology. – Roland Barthes
The alluring influences of bibliophilism, or book-loving, have silently crept into thousands of homes, whether beautiful or humble; for the library is properly regarded as one of the most important features of home as well as mental equipment. – Henry H. Harper, Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs, 1904