The literary man must needs be a thinking one, and every day he lives he becomes wiser—if wiser, then better—if better, then happier. – Charles Lanman, “Thoughts on Literature,” 1840

I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves. – E.M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy, 1951

To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life. – W. Somerset Maugham