Histories, chronologies and almanacs offer us the illusion of progress, even though, over and over again, we are given proof that there is no such thing.

Every reader exists to ensure for a certain book a modest immortality. Reading is, in this sense, a ritual of rebirth.

The love of libraries, like most loves, must be learned.

If justice takes place, there may be hope, even in the face of a seemingly capricious divinity.

One book calls to another unexpectedly, creating alliances across different cultures and centuries.

Deserted libraries hold the shades of writers who worked within, and are haunted by their absence.

Entering a library, I am always stuck by the way in which a certain vision of the world is imposed upon the reader through its categories and its order.

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.

Ultimately, the number of books always exceeds the space they are granted.

Unpacking books is a revelatory activity.

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.

Glory is the sunshine of the dead

She was a planet, way out in space, out of its orbit, and he was an unmanned spaceship, taking measurements of the atmosphere. She was not suitable for habitation.

What fate can be worse than to know we have no one but ourselves to blame for our misfortunes!

It took us in this country 11 years to get from the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution.

Worry implies that we don't quite trust God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.

You have to change those diapers every day. When those directions on the side of the Pampers box say, 'holds 6-12 pounds' they're not kidding!

I like photographing dresses in windows. I actually wore a lot of dresses in the '70s. I like them on other people now.

If we keep practicing mental skills it is likely we can strengthen neural connections and make new connections.

What human beings seek to learn from nature is how to use it to dominate wholly both it and human beings. Nothing else counts.