QuoteProject
The true felicity of a lover of books is the luxurious turning of page by page, the surrender, not meanly abject, but deliberate and cautious, with your wits about you, as you deliver yourself into the keeping of the book. This I call reading.
Edith Wharton
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Reading is a complex and immersive experience that requires intention and awareness.

In this quote, Edith Wharton expresses that true happiness for a book lover comes from the mindful and deliberate act of reading. It is not a passive activity but rather an engaging journey where the reader consciously immerses themselves into the narrative, symbolizing a deep respect for literature and the transformative power it holds.

Themes

ReadingBooksLiteratureImmersionEducation

In practice

Example use cases

In a book club discussion, someone might say, 'As Edith Wharton said, the joy of reading lies in the deliberate turning of the pages, fully immersing ourselves in the story.'

More from Edith Wharton

They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Edith WhartonRead
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.
Edith WhartonRead
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
Edith WhartonRead
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each other’s angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
Edith WhartonRead
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
Edith WhartonRead

Similar quotes

One child must never be set above another, even in casual conversation, not to mention in speeches that circle the globe.
Alice WalkerRead
You take those little rascals, talk to them good, pat them on the back, let them think they are good, and they will go out and beat the biguns.
Bear BryantRead
When you're interviewing someone, you're in control. When you're being interviewed, you think you're in control, but you're not.
Barbara WaltersRead
We need to have an educational system that's able to embrace all sorts of minds, and where a student doesn't have to fit into a certain mold of learning.
James HillmanRead
If you pay a child a dollar to read a book, as some schools have tried, you not only create an expectation that reading makes you money, you also run the risk of depriving the child for ever of the value of it. Markets are not innocent.
Michael SandelRead
The reading of books, what is it but conversing with the wisest men of all ages and all countries.
Isaac BarrowRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.