“It is possible that the most misunderstood man upon earth is the collector of books…”
Source: Penny Wise & Book Foolish
“Man wants what he cannot have, or what is difficult to procure, or what he must wade through the blood of other men to get. So with collectors.”
Source: Penny Wise & Book Foolish
“Book-hunters are the most determined and interesting collectors in the world. I know of no passion to equal it.”
Source: The Master of Mysteries: Being an Account of the Problems Solved by Astro, Seer of Secrets, and His Love Affair With Valeska Wynne His Assistant
“I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came.
[Remarks at the Dinner for the America's Cup Crews, September 14 1962]”
“Jack, I'm going to tell you a story. A runner took a book to a famous dealer and said: 'I've got something rare here.' 'Yes,' replied the dealer, 'but customers who want it are rarer.'
Then my book is worth nothing?
Nothing whatsoever. It's a volume of old sermons, which in the trade are pretty well unsaleable. Your book is a first edition all right, and probably there never was a second, for obvious reasons.”
Source: Death of a Bookseller
“It’s a great metaphor. For what? I don’t know to this day. But I know it’s a great metaphor.”
“Han Sooyoung approached and raised my chin with her fingers. "It's been a while, Kim Dokja. You are still ugly.”
Source: 전지적 독자 시점 1 [Jeonjijeog Dogja Sijeom 1]
“But as he stood before the hard-earned freedom, he couldn't figure out what exactly he had finally earned.”
Source: 전지적 독자 시점 Epilogue [Jeonjijeog Dogja Sijeom Epilogue]
“The words poured out all at once and I couldn't answer. Finally, Yoo Joonghyuk approached me.
"I guess your mother doesn't like me.”
“⸢For sure, Kim Dokja would've said something like "Yoosung-ah, listen. There's no 'weight' to sadness."⸥
Shin Yoosung didn't agree with those words.
Sadness did indeed have 'weight'.
The despair of a person risking his life trying to save someone else, and another's grief borne from powerlessness while watching that feat unfold, would never carry equal weight.
In the end, to every human being, the most precious thing was themselves.
And Kim Dokja risked everything of his, always.”
Source: 전지적 독자 시점 4 [Jeonjijeog Dogja Sijeom 4]