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Robertson Davies on Books

1913–1995 Canada

← All quotes by Robertson Davies

9 quotes

Strange reading? It is meant to be. The world is full of romantic, macabre, improbable things which would never do in works of fiction.

Scraps and Morsels (1960)

A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age.

You would not serve junk food at a banquet, and your book must be a banquet. Get your language from Swift, not from Shopsy's.

Bookes give no wisdom where none was before,
But where some is, there reading makes it more.

A Voice from the Attic (1960)

We all have slumbering realms of sensibility which can be coaxed into wakefulness by books.

A Voice from the Attic (1960)

This is, after all, a book about reading, and the kind of reader I am addressing does not care primarily about being in fashion.

A Voice from the Attic (1960)

The clerisy are those who read for pleasure, but not for idleness; who read for pastime but not to kill time; who love books, but do not live by books.

A Voice from the Attic (1960)

One receives the impression from his writings that he made it his plan to read any book whatever that no one else can bear to read.

A Voice from the Attic (1960)

If you can, and if you are a playgoer and a filmgoer, you should be able to find voices for all the characters in the books you read.

A Voice from the Attic (1960)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Robertson Davies (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.