Literature Quotes

Books change lives. Authors and readers reflect on the power of the written word.

12844 quotes

"Literature is the immortal voice of humanity across the ages."
Juan Luis Vives
N
"Literature is the mirror of society."
Nicola Fontana Tartaglia
N
"Literature preserves the human experience."
Nicola Fontana Tartaglia
F
"For a man to write well, there are required three necessaries: to read the best authors, observe the best speakers, and much exercise of his own style."
Francis Bacon
F
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends."
Francis Bacon
C
"The pen is a powerful instrument; through writing, women can claim their rightful place in history."
Christine de Pizan
F
"In reading great literature, we become civilized."
Francesco Petrarch
F
"The pen is mightier than the sword, but only if wielded with purpose."
Francesco Petrarch
"The written word preserves what speech cannot carry across time."
Juan Luis Vives
"The written word carries the voice of the dead to the living."
Juan Luis Vives
"In literature, we find the immortal voice of those who have passed away."
Gerolamo Cardano
F
"Words are the pictures of thoughts."
Francis Bacon
M
"The written character can convey what spoken words sometimes cannot fully express."
Matteo Ricci
M
"In literature, we find not merely entertainment but the distilled wisdom of human experience across all ages."
Matteo Ricci
M
"Literature preserves what history forgets: the inner life, the dreams, the subtle moral complexities of ordinary people."
Matteo Ricci
G
"The written word carries the power to transcend time and touch eternity."
Giovan Battista della Porta
C
"The wisdom of ages can be found in books; cherish them as you would cherish life itself."
Christine de Pizan
"Literature preserves the accumulated wisdom and folly of human civilization across the ages."
Juan Luis Vives
F
"A man without books is a man without history."
Francesco Petrarch
F
"The pen is mightier than the sword in expressing truth."
Francesco Petrarch
F
"The inspired writer speaks not his own words, but the words of ages."
Francesco Petrarch
"The craft of writing is in the art of selection."
Gerolamo Cardano
F
"For a man to write well there are required three necessaries: to read the best authors, observe the best speakers, and practice the best writers."
Francis Bacon
F
"The pen is mightier than the sword."
Francesco Petrarch
F
"Literature is the most aristocratic of the arts."
Francesco Petrarch
"Literature preserves the wisdom of generations."
Juan Luis Vives
M
"Literature is the mirror in which civilizations see their own souls."
Matteo Ricci
C
"To write is to assert that one's voice matters, that one's thoughts deserve to exist in the world."
Christine de Pizan
C
"Words have power; they can wound or heal, diminish or elevate."
Christine de Pizan
B
"Literature is the conversation across centuries with the greatest minds."
Baltasar Gracián