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“It's always the books you don't have that call to you, you know that. Not the ones on your shelf. They can wait.”
― Mark Lawrence, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn

“Reading,â€� I said. “Books. It’s pretty sexy. I like women who read.â€� - Rip”
― Kailin Gow, Anti-Nice Guy

“The elevator doors opened, and I squeezed myself out before pulling out the Wardrober. It was heavy. “What do you have in there?â€� I said. “Your whole house?â€�

“Almost,â€� Simone laughed. “My favorite books.”
― Kailin Gow, Anti-Nice Guy

“Having access to the library was all well and good, but as a collector you had to own the book.”
― John Baxter, A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict

“The whole point of collecting is the thrill of acquisition, which must be maximized, and maintained at all costs.”
― John Baxter, A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict

“Prolific libraries take on an independent existence, and become living things...We may have chosen its themes, and the general pathways along which it will develop, but we can only stand and watch as it invades all the walls of the room, climbs to the ceiling, annexes the other rooms one by one, expelling anything that gets in the way. It eliminates pictures hanging on the walls, or ornaments that obstruct its advance; it moves on with its necessary but cumbersome acolytes -- stools and ladders -- and forces its owner into constant reorganization since its progress is not linear and calls for ever new kinds of diviion. At the same time, it is undeniably the reflection, the twin image of its master. To anyone with the insight to decode it, the fundamental character of the librarian will emerge as one's eye travels along the bookshelves. indeed no library of any size is like another, none has the same personality. (pp. 30-31)”
― Jacques Bonnet, Phantoms on the Bookshelves

“The mania for collecting can easily turn simply into accumulating. All one has to do is develop one collecting interest after another, and so on. But collectors of a particular category of articles almost always lose interest once they have reached their goal. When the collection is complete, what else is there to do?...Failure makes it possible to avoid the effort: he simply carries on as before. (pp. 25-26)”
― Jacques Bonnet, Phantoms on the Bookshelves

“Do you like books, Lady Murray?' Lavinia asked.
'Just to read,' Violet said.
'A mistake. A very big mistake. A poorly bound book disintegrates. Where would our learning be then? We need something permanent, solid. We need to treat words with the respect they are due. Treasure them. Adorn the books that contain these words with leather bindings, illuminate their words with gold. We shouldn't treat learning lightly.'
'But I would treat a word scrawled on a scrap of paper with the same respect as one written on an illuminated manuscript.”
― Alice Thompson

“No, I am not imagining a book-burning, warmongering, anti-intellectual fascist regime â€� in my plan, there is no place for re ghters who light up the Homers and Lady Murasakis and Cao Xueqins stashed under your bed â€� because, for starters, I’m not banning literature per se. I’m banning the reading of literature. Purchasing and collecting books and other forms of literature remains perfectly legitimate as long as you don’t peruse the literature at hand.”
― Kyoko Yoshida

“Holding a precious book meant to Mendel what an assignment with a woman might to another man. These moments were his platonic nights of love. Books had power over him; money never did. Great collectors, including the founder of a collection in Princeton University Library, tried in vain to recruit him as an adviser and buyer for their libraries—Jakob Mendel declined; no one could imagine him anywhere but in the Café Gluck. Thirty-three years ago, when his beard was still soft and black and he had ringlets over his forehead, he had come from the east to Vienna, a crook-backed lad, to study for the rabbinate, but he had soon abandoned Jehovah the harsh One God to give himself up to idolatry in the form of the brilliant, thousand-fold polytheism of books. That was when he had first found his way to the Café Gluck, and gradually it became his workplace, his headquarters, his post office, his world. Like an astronomer alone in his observatory, studying myriads of stars every night through the tiny round lens of the telescope, observing their mysterious courses, their wandering multitude as they are extinguished and then appear again, so Jakob Mendel looked through his glasses out from that rectangular table into the other universe of books, also eternally circling and being reborn in that world above our own.”
― Stefan Zweig, The Collected Stories of Stefan Zweig

“I, personally, have never been able to throw a book away. I have seen books, like in trash, and to me it's like seeing a human head in the trash. Even if it's a horrible book.”
― Fran Lebowitz

“Reasons to keep books:

To read them one day! If you hope to read the book one day, definitely keep it. It’s fine to be aspirational; no one else will keep score on what you have actually read. It’s great to dream and hope that one day you do have the time to read all your books.

To tell your story. Some people give away every book they’ve read explaining, “What’s the point in keeping a book after I’ve read it if I’m not going to read it again? It’s someone else’s turn to read my copy now.� If that works for you, then only keep books on your shelves that you haven’t read yet. However you can probably understand that the books that you haven’t yet read only tell the story of your future, they don’t say much about where you’ve been and what made you who you are today.

To make people think you’ve read the book! This one may be hard or easy for you to admit, but we don’t think there is any shame in it. Sometimes we hold on to books because they represent our aspirational selves, supporting the perception of how well read or intelligent we are. They are certainly the books our ideal selves would read, but in reality—if we had to admit it—we probably never will. We would argue that you should still have these books around. They are part of your story and who you want to be.

To inspire someone else in your household to read those books one day. Perhaps it’s your kids or maybe your guests. Keeping books for the benefit of others is thoughtful and generous. At the very least, anyone who comes into your home will know that these are important books and will be exposed to the subjects and authors that you feel are important. Whether they actually read Charles Dickens or just know that he existed and was a prolific writer after seeing your books: mission accomplished!

To retain sentimental value. People keep a lot of things that have sentimental value: photographs, concert ticket stubs, travel knickknacks. Books, we would argue, have deeper meaning as sentimental objects. That childhood book of your grandmother's� she may have spent hours and hours with it and perhaps it was instrumental in her education. That is much more impactful than a photograph or a ceramic figurine. You are holding in your hands what she held in her hands. This brings her into the present and into your home, taking up space on your shelves and acknowledging the thread of family and history that unites you. Books can do that in ways that other objects cannot.

To prove to someone that you still have it! This may be a book that you are otherwise ready to give away, but because a friend gifted it, you want to make sure you have it on display when they visit. This I’ve found happens a lot with coffee table books. It can be a little frustrating when the biggest books are the ones you want to get rid of the most, yet, you are beholden to keeping them. This dilemma is probably better suited to “Dear Abby� than to our guidance here. You will know if it’s time to part ways with a book if you notice it frequently and agonize over the need to keep it to stay friends with your friend. You should probably donate it to a good organization and then tell your friend you spilled coffee all over it and had to give it away!

To make your shelves look good! There is no shame in keeping books just because they look good. It’s great if your books all belong on your shelves for multiple reasons, but if it’s only one reason and that it is that it looks good, that is good enough for us. When you need room for new acquisitions, maybe cull some books that only look good and aren’t serving other purposes.”
― Thatcher Wine, For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library

“The book is the precious material expression of a past emotion, or the chance of having one in years to come, and to get rid of it would bring the risk of a serious sense of loss. (p. 28)”
― Jacques Bonnet

“There is nothing in our homes quite like a book. Wouldn’t it be great if we could keep unlimited amounts of them? Books in every room, piled high, yet organized in such a way that we knew where that exact title was, exactly when we wanted it.

Sadly the dream of infinite books is just a dream. Our space is limited and we can only keep so many books. That constraint forces choices. What if these choices and the decision-making that comes with them could be seen as a path to personal growth and understanding? We believe it is exactly that.

Just as the books we keep tell the story of who we are, the books we do not keep must be let go with an open heart and open mind. Letting a book go is an equally essential part of our ever unfolding story. We have to ask ourselves honestly, why do I have this book?”
― Thatcher Wine, For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library

“There really is a book about every subject. Sometimes it takes just one book to begin a collection or to anchor a group of seemingly disparate books, providing a launching point to build a larger collection.

Two books can constitute a “collection.�

Once you have three, you’re on a roll! The larger it is, the more it says that it’s important to you and the more you can deepen your knowledge and immersion in that subject or hobby. Books are not just for readers or booklovers. Books are for everyone.”
― Thatcher Wine, For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library