Novelists are stamina merchants, grinders, nine-to-fivers, and their career curves follow the usual arc of human endeavour.
Martin AmisRead
If you have come to these pages for laughter, may you find it. If you are here to be offended, may your ire rise and your blood boil. If you seek an adventure, may this song sing you away to blissful escape. If you need to test or confirm your beliefs, may you reach comfortable conclusions. All books reveal perfection, by what they are or what they are not. May you find that which you seek, in these pages or outside them. May you find perfection, and know it by name.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses the diverse purposes of reading, encouraging individuals to seek joy, adventure, or confirmation of beliefs through books.
Christopher Moore's quote encapsulates the multifaceted nature of literature and reading. It invites readers to approach books with varying intentions—whether to laugh, to challenge their views, to find escape, or to discover perfection. The underlying message is that literature can cater to different needs and desires, and through this exploration, individuals may find deeper truths and personal insights in the stories they engage with, be they fictional or factual. Ultimately, the quote celebrates the journey of discovery that books provide, urging seekers to recognize their own definitions of perfection.
Themes
ReadingBooksLaughterAdventureBeliefsPerfection
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote during a book club discussion to highlight the varied experiences of readers.
Similar quotes
Does the novel have to deepen the psychology of its heroes? Certainly the modern novel does, but the ancient legends did not do the same. Oedipus' psychology was deduced by Aeschylus or Freud, but the character is simply there, fixed in a pure and terribly disquieting state.
Umberto EcoRead
Writers are often the worst judges of what they have written.
Stephen KingRead
A big part of me would be very proud never having anything of mine adapted, because if you want the real experience, there's only one way to get it. You're going to actually have to be a reader.
Jonathan FranzenRead
He's a great writer. If I didn't think so I wouldn't have tried to kill him... I was the champ and when I read his stuff I knew he had something. So I dropped a heavy glass skylight on his head at a drinking party. But you can't kill the guy. He's not human.
Ernest HemingwayRead
If you read quickly to get through a poem to what it means, you have missed the body of the poem.
M. H. AbramsRead