Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
In anything fit to be called by the name of reading, the process itself should be absorbing and voluptuous; we should gloat over a book, be rapt clean out of ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Reading should be a pleasurable and immersive experience that transports us beyond ourselves.
In this quote, Robert Louis Stevenson emphasizes that true reading goes beyond mere understanding; it should be an experience that captivates us and evokes strong emotions. He suggests that the joy of reading can lead to a transformative state, where we lose ourselves in the narrative and gain a deeper appreciation for the written word.
Themes
ReadingExperienceBooksImaginationJoy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of literature at a book club.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
All quotes →Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
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