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Book Quotes

Why books work the way they do.

This page highlights what books can do that film can't, including slower pacing and quiet stretches, alongside a reminder that some things simply translate poorly to screen. For a companion collection, see Books.

I'm in a comic book now. That was cool. That's something that I'm still sorta reeling about, 'cause I read comics as a kid. Someone drew me, and actually did a pretty good job!

Quotes by Rutina Wesley

I write as if I'm someone reading the book - often people ask if I write one strand first and then go back and seed in the other, but I don't think I could keep track of who knows what,...

Quotes by Ruth Ware

Seeing my book on a billboard in New York was a bucket-list-type thing, but also a deeply surreal moment. I had to keep reminding myself that, oh, yes, I wrote that book.

Quotes by Ruth Ware

In addition, we were unable to meet openly to discuss the progress of the book, for we were both on the list of persons banned from communicating with other banned persons.

Quotes by Ruth First

Pan me, don't give me the part, publish everybody's book but this one and I will still make it!

Quotes by Ruth Gordon

My biographers... would like to have my time at the court almost complete before they finish the book. We decided... to flip the order.

Quotes by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I was given a thick paperback copy of the 'Guinness Book of Records' when I was 11 years old, and I read it gluttonously, cover to cover, paying special lip-smacking attention to all the incredibly gruesome chapters about the violence...

Quotes by Russell Smith

What makes a publisher decide to market a book to a particular audience is not the subject matter but the style.

Quotes by Russell Smith

The only thing that makes a book YA is that it is about teenagers, and it is written in a very conventional, non-artsy, non-pretentious way. YA is not the place for the oblique or the cryptic. If it is in...

Quotes by Russell Smith

I have argued about the future of fiction with jaded novelists, far-seeing postmodernists, technologists, television critics. The argument that future generations will not know the pleasures of the novel has been a staple of book reviewing since at least 1960.

Quotes by Russell Smith

Anything that encourages a boy to open a book, in a world of more violent and therefore more compelling video games, is something I'm going to pay for.

Quotes by Russell Smith

All coffee shops now have WiFi. Why bring a book when you could be wittily attacking some idiot columnist on Twitter, or responding to your date requests, or posting a picture of your foot? All of that is more gripping...

Quotes by Russell Smith

Possibly the strangest book ever made, the 'Codex Seraphinianus' is an encyclopedia of an imaginary world, with illegible calligraphy - it is written in an alphabet no one can understand - and surreal drawings of odd beasts and machines.

Quotes by Russell Smith

One of the things I have tried to do with this book and with all of them really is avoid that simple, easy, reductionist view of motivation and to show we do things for a complex net of reasons, a...

Quotes by Russell Banks

I much prefer working with kids whose life could be completely upended by a reading of a book over a weekend. You give them a book to read - they go home and come back a changed person. And that...

Quotes by Russell Banks

I mean, of course, I love sci-fi and stuff like that, but I'm not, like, a comic book crazy guy.

Quotes by Russell Hornsby

There have been articles saying that all women need to read my book. I ask, why not all men? In fact, that would be even more valuable because we women want to sit down with men and tell them -...

Quotes by Rupi Kaur

My first, 'Room on the Roof,' was the longest book I've written.

Quotes by Ruskin Bond

I have always discouraged young writers from self-publishing, by which I mean going to a vanity publisher and spending your hard earned savings - say, some two-three lakhs - and getting your book printed. It's not published; it's printed!

Quotes by Ruskin Bond

One of the very first ghost stories I read - and that was in a forest rest house, where it is a bit scarier - was by M.R. James. He is one of the pioneers of ghost stories. And the...

Quotes by Ruskin Bond

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a quote about pacing in books versus other media?
Yes. One quote observes: "In a book, you can kind of take time and have lulls in places." It highlights something books can do that faster-paced formats often can't.
Is there a quote about the difference between books and movies?
Yes - one quote notes that things that might work in a book just do not work in the visual medium of movies. It's a useful reminder that not every story translates directly from page to screen. For more on the reading side of storytelling, browse Books quotes.
Is there a quote about why books offer escapism?
Yes. One quote calls a great book "escapism" and says the artistry and the creativity in a story are better than any drugs. It's a strong statement about the emotional pull of good writing. For more on the community side of reading, see Book Club quotes.
Is there a quote about literature guiding how kids grow up?
Yes - one quote reflects that what sort of person you grow into shouldn't happen by default, which is often exactly what happens to kids, and describes seeing literature as a method of guidance, information, and contemplation. It's a thoughtful take on the role books can play in shaping character. For more on where to find these books, check out Bookstore quotes.
What different things do these "book" quotes celebrate?
The slower pacing only a book allows, the limits of adapting books into movies, books as a form of escapism, and literature's role in shaping how people grow up. If you're touring or exploring more book-related content, Book Tour quotes round things out.

One entry treats a great book as pure escapism, while another argues literature plays a real role in guiding how young people grow up. Explore further with Book Club or Bookstore.