Ma's still nodding. "You're the one who matters, though. Just you." I shake my head till it's wobbling because there's no just me.
Books are the air I breathe, so I don't notice the seasons.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Books are essential to the speaker's life, to the point that they diminish the awareness of time and seasons.
This quote by Emma Donoghue expresses the idea that books and literature are a fundamental part of the speaker's existence, providing them with such profound sustenance that the passing of time becomes insignificant. The metaphor of 'air' emphasizes the vitality and irreplaceability of reading in their life, suggesting that when one immerses themselves in literature, they can lose track of external changes and trivialities, indicating a deep passion for reading.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of literacy, this quote can be used to highlight the foundational role of books.
More from Emma Donoghue
All quotes βAh yes, the paradox of publicity is that even as we do it, we know it's killing off the chance of another reader happening across our book in the ideal state of innocence.
At the door, there was one of those moment when two people realize that they like each other more than they know each other. This is nicer than the opposite situation, but more awkward. You try to remember the protocol for touching. You hate to gush, or presume to much, yet you are unwilling to let the moment pass without without some gesture
You cannot predict literary success; the only way you can possibly aim for it is to do your thing and do it well.
Writing stories is my way of scratching that itch: my escape from the claustrophobia of individuality. It lets me, at least for a while, live more than one life, walk more than one path. Reading, of course, can do the same.
...real loneliness is having no one to miss. Think yourself lucky you've known something worth missing.
Similar quotes
As children growing up here in the East Bay, we were raised by a community with a deep belief in the promise of our country - and, a deep understanding of the parts of that promise that still remain unfulfilled.
Our system rewards specific talents more than anything. I got pushed forward for having certain capacities. Others had their horizons systematically lowered for having capacities that our academic system had no use for. I've seen countless people lose heart and feel like they should settle for less, that they don't deserve abundance.
The principle itself of dogmatic religion, dogmatic morality, dogmatic philosophy, is what requires to be rooted out; not any particular manifestation of that principle. The very corner-stone of an education intended to form great minds, must be the recognition of the principle, that the object is to call forth the greatest possible quantity of intellectual power, and to inspire the intensest love of truth.
After years of finding mathematics easy, I finally reached integral calculus and came up against a barrier. I realized that this was as far as I could go, and to this day I have never successfully gone beyond it in any but the most superficial way.
If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it from him.
Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength of the nation.