If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
It skims in through the eye, and by means of the utterly delicate retina hurls shadows like insect legs inward for translation. Then an immense space opens up in silence and an endlessly fecund sub-universe the writer descends, and asks the reader to descend after him, not merely to gain instructions but also to experience delight, the delight of mind freed from matter and exultant in the strength it has stolen from matter.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote describes the profound experience of reading as a journey into an imaginative world, offering both insight and pleasure.
John Updike illustrates the transformative power of literature through vivid imagery, emphasizing how reading allows the mind to transcend the physical world. The quote evokes the sense of wonder and exploration that comes from engaging with a text, inviting readers to not only learn but to delight in the creative freedom that storytelling can provide.
Themes
ReadingImaginationLiteratureDelightExperience
In practice
Example use cases
In a book club discussion, to emphasize the richness of the reading experience.
More from John Updike
All quotes →Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. _x000D_ _x000D_ Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.
John UpdikeRead
Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.
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But it is just two lovers, holding hands and in a hurry to reach their car, their locked hands a starfish leaping through the dark.
John UpdikeRead
The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
John UpdikeRead
To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
John UpdikeRead
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