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You recollect what Hobbes used to say, "that if he had read as many books as other men, he should have been as ignorant as they," clearly implying that reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought.

— Arthur Helps

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More quotes by Arthur Helps

Do not mistake energy for enthusiasm; the softest speakers are often the most enthusiastic of men.

Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd (1835)

There is hardly a more common error than that of taking the man who has one talent, for a genius.

Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd (1835)

Friendship is often outgrown; and his former child’s clothes will no more fit a man than some of his former friendships.

The most enthusiastic man in a cause is rarely chosen as the leader.

Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd (1835)

The greatest luxury of riches is that they enable you to escape so much good advice. The rich are always advising the poor; but the poor seldom return the compliment.

Brevia: Short Essays and Aphorisms (1871)

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