I believe that there are three categories of books in this world. The first is the book of the universe and nature, the second is the book inherently existing in our minds, and the third is the books written by people throughout history. We should read the first two in a fused manner. As for the third, it serves merely to evoke the principles stored in our minds or to provide verification. This is all we need from them. Chinese books are already sufficient for our needs, with plenty to spare. Why exhaust our spirits by reading Western textbooks? — Li Gongdu
Valuable things are obtained by selecting the essential and discarding the trivial. Therefore, you must extract a few pages of essence from a whole shelf of books. — Rousseau
If the quantity of books owned were truly evidence of education, who could compete with bookshop owners who possess many books on educated topics? — Luchianus
When you wish to continue reading but gain nothing, set the book aside for a while and return to it later. Eventually, it will become clear to you. — James Bissill Pratt
Since I was twenty, I composed rhapsodies by day and studied books by night, occasionally also working on poetry, leaving no time for sleep or rest, until my mouth and tongue were cracked and my elbows developed calluses. — Bai Juyi
The cords of my bamboo slips broke repeatedly, and my iron inkstone wore through; I recited and copied by hand, counting not the years. If I did not love books, I might have died; let others laugh at me as a book fanatic. — Lu You
Some people read a few books and, not yet knowing the bitterness and sweetness within, consider reading easy, thinking that black words on white paper present no difficulty. Others, aware of the difficulty, give up and believe reading is harder than anything else. Both of these attitudes actually reflect a lack of understanding of the arduous nature of learning. — Cao Fang
An old man reads until his bamboo slips break a hundred times; late in the day he forgets to eat, and at night he forgoes sleep. — Lu You
Reading a book a hundred times yields new insights; practicing characters a hundred times yields new skill.
Struggling in vain with the classics and tombs of a hundred schools, who knows of this pile of fireflies and snow? — Liu Jian
There are some books that should not be forgotten, but there are no books that should not be remembered. — Auden
