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Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
P. J. O'Rourke
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Choose your reading material wisely, as it reflects on you even in life’s unexpected moments.

This quote humorously suggests that we should always choose to read something that enhances our reputation, even in unforeseen circumstances such as death. It highlights the value we place on appearances and how our interests and choices, even in private moments like reading, can define us and what we wish to convey to others about ourselves.

Themes

ReadingEducationAppearanceHumorWisdom

In practice

Example use cases

Inspiring students at a literary event to appreciate the importance of their reading choices.

More from P. J. O'Rourke

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Predicting innovation is something of a self-canceling exercise: the most probable innovations are probably the least innovative.
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Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine.
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Hubris is one of the great renewable resources.
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Quote by P. J. O'Rourke | QuoteProject