I took delight in hurling books across the room if I knew I would not be reading the second chapter. Then I’d go and pick them up again, because they are books, after all, and we are not savages.
Madam Pince, our librarian, tells me that it is 'pawed about, dribbled on, and generally maltreated' nearly everyday - a high compliment for any book.
For our family, learning was everything. Homework came first; books, being sacred, were never to be left on the floor.
Call me a schoolmarm, but few things make me angrier than people not taking good care of library materials.
I am a passionate nonfinisher. Life is too short, and there are too many great books to read, so if I lose interest or respect, I switch. But when, of course, when you really fall in love with a book, all the others are ignored.
Lionel whispered because he was under the impression that it was out of respect for books, not consideration for readers.
I guess I was raised in a household with a lot of reverence for the physical sanctity of books. You didn't destroy books.
Literature was the only religion her father practiced, when a book fell on the floor he kissed it, when he was done with a book he tried to give it away to someone who would love it.
It seems to me that to take a book of mine into his hands is one of the rarest distinctions that anyone can confer upon himself. I even assume that he removes his shoes when he does so-not to speak of boots.
I believe in the value of the book, which keeps something irreplaceable, and in the necessity of fighting to secure its respect.
Even bad books are books and therefore sacred.
I hate libraries for the way they put stickers on things. I don't approve of folding over pages, or of writing in books. God, forget scissors - that's beyond the pale.
Writing for children is bloody difficult; books for children are as complex as their adult counterparts, and they should therefore be accorded the same respect.
Books must be treated with respect, we feel that in our bones, because words have power. Bring enough words together they can bend space and time.
