Education & Inspiration

Wisdom from Books quotes

Lines from published books by writers whose work has lasted.

• The soul is superior to its knowledge, wiser than any of its works.

  Ralph Waldo EmersonCopy

• The student is to read history actively and not passively; to esteem his own life the text, and books the commentary.

  Ralph Waldo EmersonCopy

• No man can learn what he has not preparation for learning, however near to his eyes is the object.

  Ralph Waldo EmersonCopy

• The learned and the studious of thought have no monopoly of wisdom.

  Ralph Waldo EmersonCopy

• Books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they were written.

  Henry David ThoreauCopy

• The best books are not read even by those who are called good readers.

  Henry David ThoreauCopy

• Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage.

  Henry David ThoreauCopy

• The most profitable study is that which is conducted with a definite aim and object.

  Samuel SmilesCopy

• The solution of one problem helps the mastery of another; and thus knowledge is carried into faculty.

  Samuel SmilesCopy

• Unread books on a shelf are doors you have not opened yet.

  RisoraCopy

• Getting lost in a story is one of the few escapes that leaves you wiser.

  RisoraCopy

• The right sentence at the right moment can change how you see the whole week.

  RisoraCopy

A sample of 12 from the 19 Wisdom from Books quotes in the app. Named authors are shown as in the app; lines marked Risora are our own writing.