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About this quote

What does it mean?
Roosevelt asserts that reading shapes a person's identity and intellectual foundation deeply.
In plain terms
The books you read become a part of who you are.
What can you take from it?
Reading profoundly influences personal identity and thought.

Where it applies

  • education
  • self development
  • literature

Putting it to work

  • reading widely
  • curating inputs
  • lifelong learning

Questions to consider

  • What have your books made you?
  • Can you know yourself without reading?

Another view

Identity is also shaped by actions and relationships, not just reading.

More from Theodore Roosevelt

  1. Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.

    Permalink to quote #75
  2. I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.

    Permalink to quote #77
  3. Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.

    Permalink to quote #74

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