Quote

Toward the end of his life, one can sense that he was no longer thinking his way into the minds of others, causing them to speak on his behalf, but that he was now speaking for himself.

He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more than his reading. He was wont to say that if he had read as much as other men he should have known no more than other men.

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.

One may as well be asleep as to read for anything but to improve his mind and morals, and regulate his conduct.

A mistake in judgment isn't fatal, but too much anxiety about judgment is.

He had delusions of adequacy.

He was so tenacious he defied the distraction of women by refusing to have them in his presence, just as later in life he denied his blindness by calling for more and more candles.

Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.

He is indebted to his memory for his jests and to his imagination for his facts.

Reading was not just an escape or a Band-Aid; it was a deep form of feeling seen and recognized, and being able to see and recognize other kindred spirits. My dad was a writer, too, which also likely had something to do with that.