“ Saint John, in a moment of confusion, tells us not to love the world because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,is not of the Father, but… Alberto Manguel
“ As centuries of dictators have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule; since the craft of reading cannot be untaught once it has been acquired, the second-best recourse is to limit its scop… Alberto Manguel
“ It hardly matters why a library is destroyed: every banning, curtailment, shredding, plunder or loot gives rise (at least as a ghostly presence) to a louder, clearer, more durable library of the banne… Alberto Manguel
“ Imensamente generosos, os meus livros, não me fazem nenhuma exigência, antes me oferecem todo tipo de iluminação. Alberto Manguel
“ Tal como os livros de Petrarca, os meus sabem infinitamente mais do que eu e agradeço-lhes por sequer tolerarem a minha presença. Por vezes, sinto que abuso desse privilégio. Alberto Manguel
“ The stories that unfold in the space of a writer's study, the objects chosen to watch over a desk, the books selected to sit on the shelves, all weave a web of echoes and reflections of meanings and a… Alberto Manguel
“ Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know. Alberto Manguel
“ In any of my pages in any of my books may life a perfect account of my secret experience of the world. Alberto Manguel
“ And it is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only its semblance, for by telling them of many things without teaching them anything, you will make them seem to know much, while for the m… Alberto Manguel
“ In my fool hardy youth, when my friends were dreaming of heroic deeds in the realms of engineering and law, finance and national politics, I dreamt of becoming a librarian. Alberto Manguel
“ Every reader exists to ensure for a certain book a modest immortality. Reading is, in this sense, a ritual of rebirth. Alberto Manguel
“ As readers, we are seldom interested in the fine sentiments of a lesson learnt; we seldom care about the good manners of morals. Repentance puts an end to conversation; forgiveness becomes the stuff o… Alberto Manguel
“ Digestion of words as well; I often read aloud to myself in my writing corner in the library, where no one can hear me, for the sake of better savouring the text, so as to make it all the more mine. Alberto Manguel
“ The weight of absence is as much a feature of any library as the constriction of order and space. Alberto Manguel
