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A book is like a piece of rope; it takes on meaning only in connection with the things it holds together.

— Norman Cousins

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More quotes by Norman Cousins

People who develop the habit of thinking of themselves as world citizens are fulfilling the first requirement of sanity in our time.

Editorial (1971)

War is an invention of the human mind. The human mind can invent peace with justice.

Who Speaks for Man? (1953)

The main failure of education is that it has not prepared people to comprehend matters concerning human destiny.

Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences.

Optimism doesn’t wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.

Human Options (1981)

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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: Norman Cousins (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.