Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.

To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a schola…

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be rea…

Costly followers are not to be liked; lest while a man maketh his train longer, he make his wings shorter.

I once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study. I once tried standing up on my toes to see far out in the dista…

Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry.

He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more then his reading. He was wont to say that if he had read as much as other…