Books, not which afford us a cowering enjoyment, but in which each thought is of unusual daring; such as an idle man cannot read, and a timid one would not be entertained by, which even make us dangerous to existing institution — such call I good books. – Henry David Thoreau

There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book; books are well written or badly written. – Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

A good book should leave you… slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it. – William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958