Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Anne Fadiman

Quote by Anne Fadiman

Work

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader

This book is a collection of essays and anecdotes that delve into the author's love for reading and the transformative power of literature. It offers a unique perspective on the act of reading, examining how books shape one's worldview and personal growth. more

Author

Anne Fadiman
Anne Fadiman

Anne Fadiman, born on August 7, 1953, is an American author known for her in-depth exploration of culture, history, and language, particularly for her research on linguistic diversity. more

You May Also Like

“It feels to me as thought I've become the character in it, and the character's life ends when the books does. I suppose there are times I'm glad too. Then the ending is like coming out of a bad dream, and I feel all light and free, reborn. I sometimes wonder whether writers really know what they're doing to us readers. [...] I don't read much anymore [...] maybe for that reason. Because I didn't want books to have me in their power. It's like poison. I imagined I'd become immune. But you never become immune. On the contrary.”

“From my earliest youth to the present hour...literature has been the favourite object of my pursuit, my recreation in leisure, and my hope in employment. My propensity to it, indeed, has been so ungovernable, that I may properly call it the source of my several miscarriages throughout life. It was the bar to my preferment, for it gave me a distaste to other studies; it was the cause of my unsteadiness in all my undertakings, because to all I preferred it. It has sunk me to distress, it has involved me in difficulties; it has brought me to the brink of ruin by making me neglect the means of living, yet never, till now, did I discern it might itself be my support.”