Quote

Reading is an act of civilization; it's one of the greatest acts of civilization because it takes the free raw material of the mind and builds castles of possibilities.

I prefer reading to writing. Reading changes your world view. Writing changes absolutely nothing. Except, of course, when it makes you rich.

Among the letters my readers write me, there is a certain category which is continuously growing, and which I see as a symptom of the increasing intellectualization of the relationship between readers and literature.

Reading while I'm writing ideally inspires my competitive side. When I read great writers, I want to be a better writer.

Reading is a means of thinking with another person's mind; it forces you to stretch your own.

There isn't any distinction between a reader and a writer - reading is so much a part of it.

Reading is a majority skill but a minority art. Yet nothing can replace the exact, complicated, subtle communion between absent author and entranced, present reader.

In my position you have to read when you want to write and to talk when you would like to read.

I do believe that reading can help you understand what you're writing and see what others are doing. But sometimes the desire for more information can act as an inhibitor.

Reading is probably what leads most writers to writing.