Literature, real literature, must not be gulped down like some potion which may be good for the heart or good for the brain—the brain, that stomach of the soul. Literature must be taken and broken to bits, pulled apart, squashed—then its lovely reek will be smelt in the hollow of the palm, it will be munched and rolled upon the tongue with relish; then, and only then, its rare flavor will be appreciated at its true worth and the broken and crushed parts will again come together in your mind and disclose the beauty of a unity to which you have contributed something of your own blood.

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The good, the admirable reader identifies himself not with the boy or the girl in the book, but with the mind that conceived and composed that book.

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Only one letter divides the comic from the cosmic.

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Loneliness as a situation can be corrected, but as a state of mind it is an incurable illness.

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Genius is an African who dreams up snow.

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Knowing you have something good to read before bed is among the most pleasurable of sensations.

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It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.

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Words without experience are meaningless.

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The only real number is one, the rest are mere repetition

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My mind speaks English, my heart speaks Russian, and my ear prefers French.

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