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I could not move or speak for several minutes, frozen in the belief that the book itself had changed and was now writing me.

— Jeff VanderMeer City of Saints and Madmen (2001)

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More quotes by Jeff VanderMeer

It is the nature of the writer to question the validity of his world and yet rely on his senses to describe it. From what other tension can great literature be born?

City of Saints and Madmen (2001)

They’ll never forget, never forgive, no matter who the enemy is, son. Better just to start a new life. Be someone else.

Finch (2009)

An inordinate love of ritual can be harmful to the soul, unless, of course, in times of great crisis, when ritual can protect the soul from fracture.

City of Saints and Madmen (2001)

I had learned so much about the world that I had decided to withdraw from it.

Finch (2009)

When they give you things, ask yourself why. When you're grateful to them for giving you the things you should have anyway, ask yourself why.

Finch (2009)

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Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

Francis Bacon Meditationes sacræ (1597)

It is not in the books of the Philosophers, but in the religious symbolism of the Ancients, that we must look for the footprints of Science, and re-discover the Mysteries of Knowledge.

Albert Pike Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871)

There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

Logan Pearsall Smith Afterthoughts (1931)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jeff VanderMeer (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.