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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 tend to write things and don't go the next step and try to get it published. I don't want to do book signings and stuff.

Quotes by Robert Hunter

The first book that really knocked me out was the 'Brothers Karamazov.' I read it when I was a senior in high school.

Quotes by Robert Hass

With literary fiction, generally a film maker falls in love with a book. In commercial fiction, it's a producer or studio falling in love with a book they can make into a movie with worldwide appeal.

Quotes by Robert Gottlieb

Until every soul is freely permitted to investigate every book and creed and dogma for itself, the world cannot be free.

Quotes by Robert Green Ingersoll

The dead cannot speak. But hitherto unknown information has emerged from the confidential archives of the Syrian presidency and foreign ministry, published in a new book by Bouthaina Shaaban, who spent ten years as Hafez's interpreter and is still an...

Quotes by Robert Fisk

We are constantly trying to cope with what our fathers or our grandfathers did. I wrote the book 'Great War of Civilization,' and my father was a solider in the First World War which produced the current Middle East -...

Quotes by Robert Fisk

William Dalrymple called me a war junkie in his silly book. No, I don't have a desire for it. I'm appalled and infuriated by it.

Quotes by Robert Fisk

I had neither expert aid nor advice. I studied no courses in writing; until a year or so ago, I never read a book by anybody advising writers how to write.

Quotes by Robert E. Howard

First you wonder if they're separate stories, but no, they're not, they're contingent stories and they form a pattern. And you begin with some of the island as the place to which the heroine of the book returns.

Quotes by Robert Creeley

There are no taboos. Every topic is open, however shocking. It is the way that the topics are handled that's important, and that applies whether it is a 15-year-old who is reading your book or someone who is 55.

Quotes by Robert Cormier

My dream was to be known as a writer and to be able to produce at least one book that would be read by people. That dream came true with the publication of my first novel - and all the...

Quotes by Robert Cormier

I really strive to bring something new to each book. I don't want to write the same book over and over again.

Quotes by Robert Crais

My books come to me in images, and sometimes the image is at the beginning of the book, and sometimes it's simply a flash somewhere in the middle.

Quotes by Robert Crais

I sometimes feel that if your book sells more than 20 years, then there's something in it that you can say, gee, I did something that endures, that's timeless.

Quotes by Robert Caro

No one ever committed suicide while reading a good book, but many have tried while trying to write one.

Quotes by Robert Byrne

After an author has been dead for some time, it becomes increasingly difficult for his publishers to get a new book out of him each year.

Quotes by Robert Benchley

I really don't know what I am going to do in terms of what a book is going to be about until I actually start writing it!

Quotes by Robert B. Parker

They give me the money, I give them the book. Having input into the adaptation would be kind of like selling a house and coming back three years later and saying, 'Paint it this color!'

Quotes by Robert B. Parker

To the man who reads 'Scouting for Boys' superficially, there is a disappointing lack of religion in the book. But to him who tries it in practice, the basic religion underlying it soon becomes apparent.

Quotes by Robert Baden-Powell

My hope is that I hit it big with something, and then I'll have enough of a cushion to carve out time to write a book. That would be my passion project.

Quotes by Rob Thomas

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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.