When you re-read a classic you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before.
I think of the reader as a cat, endlessly fastidious, capable by turns of mordant indifference and riveted attention, luxurious, recumbent, ever poised. Whereas the writer is absolutely a dog, panting and moping, too eager for an affectionate scratch behind the ears, lunging frantically after any old stick thrown in the distance.
It is one of the most mysterious penalties of men that they should be forced to confide the most precious of their possessions to things so unstable and ever changing, alas, as words.
If any man wishes to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.
I have always known that writing is indecent exposure. By publishing a book one asks to be attacked.
Of all those arts in which the wise excel, Nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.
We read to know we are not alone.
Make careful choice of the books which you read. Let the Holy Scriptures ever have the pre-eminence, and next to them, the solid, lively, heavenly treatises which best expound and apply the Scriptures . …But take heed of the poison of false teachers.
I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little further down our particular path than we have gone ourselves.
I, who live by words, am
wordless when
I try my words in prayer. All
language turns
To silence …
Related Elsewhere
Other articles in our 2002 Annual Books Issue include:
CT Book Awards 2002Here are the books our judges—200 pastors, scholars, and church leaders—considered the worthiest ...
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