|
7d3df28
|
Ttny lqr@ `dhran mqbwlan l`zlty, bl rbm `Tt mGz~an ltlk l`zl@ lmfrwD@ `lyW
|
|
reading
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
f4fd986
|
Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.
|
|
reading
inspirational
readers-and-writers
reasons-for-reading
reading-books
readers
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
7decfc8
|
At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of a book--that string of confused, alien ciphers--shivered into meaning. Words spoke to you, gave up their secrets; at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, a reader.
|
|
words
literature
reading
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
951f6f9
|
Each book was a world unto itself, and in it I took refuge.
|
|
reading
escapism
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
f172b07
|
I wanted to live among books.
|
|
books
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
8197a0f
|
In the light, we read the inventions of others; in the darkness we invent our own stories.
|
|
light
write
read
stories
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
125915e
|
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.
|
|
libraries
library
librarian
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
d7033fb
|
'thn lnhr , 'ktb , w'ntql byn lktb mtSfH , m`yd trtybh , 'fsH llHdyth mnh mkn , w'`yd tshkyl lqsm ltwfyr Hyz jdyd. lktb ljdyd@ lwfd@ yrHb bh b`d ftr@ mn lfHS. dh kn lktb mst`ml , 'd` kl lshrt lty dwnt `lyh `l~ Hlh , lathr lty ytrkh lqry' lsbq: rfq lsfr ldhyn sjlw mrwrhm blt`lyqt lmkhrbsh@ , sm m `l~ lSfH@ lbyD lfrG@ fy bdy@ wnhy@ lktb , bTq@ qTr lt'shyr SfH@ m`yn@. sw knt qdym@ 'w jdyd@ , lshr@ lwHyd@ lty 'nDl lzlth mn ktby (wGlb dwn njH yd..
|
|
المكتبة
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
5e32593
|
Every reader exists to ensure for a certain book a modest immortality. Reading is, in this sense, a ritual of rebirth.
|
|
reading
immortality
books
rebirth
reader
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
6fd80bd
|
nHn n`rf lmdh nqr' Ht~ `ndm l n`rf kyf nqr' fy lwqt nfsh nHtfZ bl`lm lZhry llnS wntmsk bf`l lqr@ nn nqr' l'nn nryd l`thwr `l~ lnhy@ fqT l'nn nryd mwSl@ lqr@ nHn nqr' klkshf@ ldhyn yqtfwn lkhT~ nsyn kl m hw Hwlhm mn 'shy nqr' shrdy ldhhn mtjwzyn b`D lSfHt
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
658729b
|
'n '`rf tmman 'nW shyy'an m ymwt fy dkhly `ndm 'stGny `n ktby, w'n dhkryty t`wd lyh dwman w'bdan wtSybny bHnyn mw'lm llGy@
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
add9531
|
Ultimately, the number of books always exceeds the space they are granted.
|
|
libraries
tsundoku
bookshelves
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
418ee9a
|
I don't remember ever feeling lonely; in fact, on the rare occasions when I met other children I found their games and their talk far less interesting than the adventures and dialogues I read in my books.
|
|
reading
chilldhood
read
child
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
2066d3f
|
The love of libraries, like most loves, must be learned.
|
|
library
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
8dc1ae5
|
I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have unlimited patience. They will wait for me till the end of my days.
|
|
reading
tsundoku
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
8785ffd
|
knt 'nZr dwman l~ lrwyt kmntwj tfh , lW 'nny ktshftu 'khyran 'nh mfyd@ llGy@ Dd lkab@
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
4449493
|
kn sqrT mqtn`an b'nW lqr@ l ymkn 'n twqZ dkhl lqry' lW m kn lqry' y`rfh slf wb'nW lHkm@ l ymkn lHSwl `lyh mn 'Hrf SmW myt@ .
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
bf842b6
|
I like to imagine that, on the day after my last, my library and I will crumble together, so that even when I am no more I'll still be with my books.
|
|
library
death
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
75a2735
|
My books hold between their covers every story I've ever known and still remember, or have now forgotten, or may one day read; they fill the space around me with ancient and new voices.
|
|
reading
books
read
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
fab69ac
|
If every library is in some sense a reflection of its readers, it is also an image of that which we are not, and cannot be.
|
|
library
reflection
readers
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
3f0c2fe
|
Our society accepts the book as a given, but the act of reading -- once considered useful and important, as well as potentially dangerous and subversive -- is now condescendingly accepted as a pastime, a slow pastime that lacks efficiency and does not contribute to the common good.
|
|
reading
books
society
reader
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
4e7b83f
|
At night, here in the library, the ghosts have voices.
|
|
library
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
20f87d2
|
Readers, censors know, are defined by the books they read.
|
|
censors
readers
reader
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
4057906
|
kn tHmsy mfrTan l~ drj@ 'ny kntu 'Zn s'SbH nsn@ Gyr s`yd@ n lm '`thr dwman `l~ ktb jdyd 'qr'h
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
6b75059
|
But at night, when the library lamps are lit, the outside world disappears and nothing but the space of books remains in existence.
|
|
library
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
51efa3c
|
Life happened because I turned the pages.
|
|
words
literature
reading
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
62b1902
|
'`Ttny lqr@ `dhr mqbwl l`zlty, bl rbm '`Tt mGz~ ltlk l`zl@ lmfrwD@ `ly.
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
89ac332
|
Unpacking books is a revelatory activity.
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
fc2746b
|
Gyr 'n lqr@ blfrsh t`tbr 'kthr mn mjrd tmDy@ llwqt, nh tmthl nw`an mn lwHd@ flmr ytrj` mrkzan `l~ dhth wytrk ljsd yrtH,wyj`l mn nfsh b`ydan l ymkn lwSwl lyh mkhfyan `n l`lm
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
b6d29ba
|
In a library, no empty shelf remains empty for long.
|
|
library
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
0606f50
|
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 scope.
|
|
reading
dictators
illiteracy
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
84d064b
|
Readers are bullied in schoolyards and in locker-rooms as much as in government offices and prisons.
|
|
reading
books
readers
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
b4ce03f
|
fy lqrn lthlth `shr ktb 'Hdhm `l~ Hf@ mjld yDm ltwrykh lknsy@ : " `nd qr@ lktb `lyk 'n t`td `l~ mlHZ@ lm`n~ 'kthr mn lklmt , wltmsk blthmr wlys blqshwr "
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
d27e713
|
I soon discovered that one doesn't simply read or . One reads a certain edition, a specific copy, recognizable by the roughness or the smoothness of its paper, by its scent, by a slight tear on page 72 and a coffee ring on the right-hand corner of the back cover.
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
cdd9695
|
Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with tempting titles and tantalizing covers.
|
|
reading
books
titles
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
35b967c
|
Darkness promotes speech.
|
|
darkness
speech
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
66a81d1
|
nHn n`rf 'nn nqr' Ht~ `ndm ntkhl~ `n `dm tSdyqn , w`ndm nfqd lqrb~ mn lnS ; nHn n`rf lmdh nqr' Ht~ `ndm l n`rf kyf nqr' ; fy lwqt nfsh nHtfZ fy `qwln bl`lm lZhry llnS wntmsk bf`l lqr@ . nn nqr' l'nn nryd l`thwr `l~ lnhy@ . fqT l'nn nryd mwSl@ lqr@ . nHn nqr' klkshf@ ldhyn ytqfwn lkhT~ nsyn kl m Hwlhm mn 'shy . nqr' shrdy ldhhn mtjwzyn b`D lSfHt . nqr' bHtqr , b`jb , bmll , bnz`j , bHms@ , bHsd wshwq . fy b`D l'Hyn t`tryn frH@ Gmr@ mfjy'@ dw..
|
|
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
a70e556
|
But a reader's ambition knows no bounds.
|
|
reading
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
6b7b5dc
|
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.
|
|
words
library
reading
text
read
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
dc8af8d
|
One book calls to another unexpectedly, creating alliances across different cultures and centuries.
|
|
books
culture
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
8ce7d9e
|
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 banned, looted, plundered, shredded or curtailed.
|
|
library
books
banning
book-burning
censorship
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
c7a7706
|
There is a line of poetry, a sentence in a fable, a word in an essay, by which my existence is justified; find that line, and immortality is assured.
|
|
words
literature
reading
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
d98a69b
|
Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember I've been seduced by their labyrinthine logic, which suggests that reason (if not art) rules over a cacophonous arrangement of books.
|
|
library
|
Alberto Manguel |
|
2be620a
|
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 affections, that lend a visitor the illusion that something of the owner of this space lives on between these walls, even if the owner is no more.
|
|
writer
desk
shelves
study
|
Alberto Manguel |