Exploring Berdyaev's Oeuvre

In Praise of Books

“The reading of good books is like conversation with the finest (people) of the past centuries.” René Descartes

"Reading brings us unknown friends.” Honoré de Balzac

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” Cicero

"Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly." Sir Francis Bacon

"A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors." Charles Baudelaire

“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.” John Locke

“Books are the mirrors of the soul.” Virginia Woolf

“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” Henry David Thoreau

“If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." Benjamin Franklin

“I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“A good book is an event in my life.” Stendhal

“I guess there are never enough books.” John Steinbeck

NOTES ALONG THE WAY

The Books and Articles of Nicholas Berdyaev