I began writing when I was still in the British Foreign Service, and it was then understood that even if you wrote about butterfly collecting, you used another name.
John Le CarreRead
I grew up in a completely bookless household. It was my father's boast that he had never read a book from end to end. I don't remember any of his ladies being bookish. So I was entirely dependent on my schoolteachers for my early reading with the exception of 'The Wind in the Willows,' which a stepmother read to me when I was in hospital.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on a childhood devoid of books and the impact of external influences on one's reading development.
In this quote, John Le Carre shares a personal narrative about growing up in an environment where reading was not a valued activity. He highlights the absence of books in his household and the pivotal role that his schoolteachers, along with a significant childhood experience of being read to by a stepmother, played in shaping his early engagement with literature. This illustrates the importance of external encouragement in developing a love for reading, particularly when it may not be fostered at home.
Themes
EducationReadingBooksChildhoodInfluence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in educational discussions about the importance of fostering reading habits in children.
More from John Le Carre
All quotes →In every war zone that I've been in, there has been a reality and then there has been the public perception of why the war was being fought. In every crisis, the issues have been far more complex than the public has been allowed to know.
John Le CarreRead
The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat’s mat is a story.
John Le CarreRead
The monsters of our childhood do not fade away, neither are they ever wholly monstrous.
John Le CarreRead
Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.
John Le CarreRead
If I had to put a name to it, I would wish that all my books were entertainments. I think the first thing you've got to do is grab the reader by the ear, and make him sit down and listen. Make him laugh, make him feel. We all want to be entertained at a very high level.
John Le CarreRead
Similar quotes
The road to freedom, here and everywhere, begins in the classroom.
Hubert H. HumphreyRead
I see manuscripts and books that are spoiled for the literary reader because they are one long stream of top-of-the-head writing, a writer telling a story without concern for precision or freshness in the use of language. Some of this storytelling reads as if it were spoken rather than written, stuffed with tired images that pop into the writer's head because they are so familiar. The top of the head is fit for growing hair, but not for generating fine prose.
Sol SteinRead
For me, literacy means freedom. For the individual and for society.
Levar BurtonRead
I write not only what I want to read...I write all the things I should have been able to read.
Alice WalkerRead
The shelf was filled with books that were hard to read, that could devastate and remake one's soul, and that, when they were finished, had a kick like a mule.
Mark HelprinRead
Sadly, children's passion for thinking often ends when they encounter a world that seeks to educate them for conformity and obedience only.
Bell HooksRead