If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed. -- Lily Tomlin

“We don’t need a list of rights and wrongs, tables of dos and don’ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever.” — Philip Pullman

from wikipedia:

Philip Pullman CBE, FRSL (born 19 October 1946) is a British writer. He is the author of several best-selling books, most notably the fantasy trilogyHis Dark Materials and the fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. In 2008, The Times named Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945".^[2]

Northern Lights, the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, won the 1995 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding English-language children's book.^[3] For the 70th anniversary of the Medal it was named one of the top ten winning works by a panel, composing the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite.^[4] Northern Lights won the public vote from that shortlist and was thus named the all-time "Carnegie of Carnegies" on 21 June 2007. It has been adapted as a film under its U.S. title, The Golden Compass.

True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline. Mortimer Jerome Adler

Mortimer Jerome Adler (December 28, 1902 – June 28, 2001) was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches inNew York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo, California. He worked for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, and Adler's own Institute for Philosophical Research.

A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. Henry Miller

The author of Tropic of Cancer was born on this day in 1891.

Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American writer and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of "novel" that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is distinctly always about and expressive of the real-life Henry Miller and yet is also fictional.^[1] His most characteristic works of this kind areTropic of Cancer (1934), Black Spring (1936), and Tropic of Capricorn (1939). He also wrote travel memoirs and essays of literary criticism and analysis.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour. William Blake

The English poet was born on this day in 1757.

From Wikipedia:

William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language".^[1] His visual artistry has led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced".^[2] Although he lived in London his entire life except for three years spent in Felpham^[3] he produced a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God",^[4] or "Human existence itself".^[5]

Considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of both the Romantic movement and "Pre-Romantic",^[6] for its large appearance in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the Church of England – indeed, to all forms of organised religion – Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions,^[7] as well as by such thinkers as Jakob Böhme and Emanuel Swedenborg.^[8] Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th-century scholar William Rossetti characterised Blake as a "glorious luminary,"^[9] and as "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors".^[10]

If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads, but what he rereads. François Mauriac

The Nobel laureate died on this day in 1970.

From Wikipedia: François Mauriac (11 October 1885 – 1 September 1970) was a French author, member of the Académie française(from 1933), and laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1952). He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur in 1958.

Poet Kenneth Rexroth, when asked "Why do you write?" loves to tell people, "To overthrow the capitalist system & to get laid — in that order."

Kenneth Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982) was an American poet, translator and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement.^[1]Although he did not consider himself to be a Beat poet, and disliked the association, he was dubbed the "Father of the Beats" by Time.^[2] He was among the first poets in the United States to explore traditional Japanese poetic forms such as haiku.^[3]

"The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his cell." — Simone Weil

“We don’t need a list of rights and wrongs, tables of dos and don’ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever.” — Philip Pullman

"G*dd*mn but that's a good one! -sky

Philip Pullman CBE, FRSL (born 19 October 1946) is a British writer born in Norwich. He is the author of severalbest-selling books, most notably the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and the fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. In 2008, The Times named Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writerssince 1945".

The first book of His Dark Materials (Northern Lights) won the 1995 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding children's book by a British subject. For the 70th anniversary of the Medal it was named one of the top ten winning works by a panel, composing the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. Northern Lights won the public vote from that shortlist and was thus named the all-time "Carnegie of Carnegies" on 21 June 2007. It has been adapted as a film under its U.S. title, The Golden Compass.

Adventure is just bad planning. Roald Amundsen

March 7, 1912: Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen announced that his expedition had successfully reached the South Pole, 99 years ago today.

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (Norwegian: [ˈɾuːɑl ˈɑmʉnsən]; 16 July 1872 – c. 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the Antarctic expedition (1910-12) to discover the South Pole in December 1911 and he was the first expedition leader to (undisputedly) reach the North Pole in 1926.[2][3] He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage (1903-06). He disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission. Amundsen, Douglas Mawson, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton were key expedition leaders during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide. F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.[1] Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost Generation" of the 1920s. He finished four novels: This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby—his most famous—and Tender Is the Night. A fifth, unfinished novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon, was published posthumously. Fitzgerald also wrote many short stories that treat themes of youth and promise along with despair and age.

The Great Gatsby has been the basis for numerous films of the same name, spanning nearly 90 years; 1926, 1949,1974, 2000, and an upcoming 2013 adaptation. In 1958 his life from 1937–1940 was dramatized in Beloved Infidel.

I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions. Lillian Hellman

February 15, 1980: In the final stroke of a legendary 20th century literary feud, playwright Lillian Hellman sued novelist Mary McCarthy for libel. Hellman died before the case went to court.

Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions. --Mark Twain

We are always the same age inside. Gertrude Stein

The author of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas was born on this day in 1874.

Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was a noted American art collector of seminal modernist paintings and an experimental writer of novels, poetry and plays, which eschewed the narrative, linear, and temporal conventions of 19th century literature. She was born in West Allegheny (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, raised in Oakland, California, and moved to Paris in 1903, making France her home for the remainder of her life. For some forty years, the Stein home on the Left Bank of Paris would become a renowned Saturday evening gathering place for expatriate American artists and writers, and others noteworthy in the world of vanguard arts and letters. Entrée and membership in the Stein salon was a sought-after validation, signifying that Stein had recognized a talent worthy of inclusion into a rarefied group of gifted artists. Stein became combination mentor, critic, and guru to those who gathered around her. A self-defined "genius", she was described as an imposing figure with a commanding manner whose inordinate self-confidence could intimidate. Among her coterie she was referred to as “Le Stein” and with less laudatory deference as “The Presence.” ^[1][2][3]

In 1933, Stein published the memoirs of her Paris years titled The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, which became a literary bestseller. The advent of this book elevated Stein from the relative obscurity of cult literary figure, into the light of mainstream attention.^[4]

Near the end of her life Stein pronounced: "I always wanted to be historical from almost a baby on, I felt that way about it..." ^[4]

My turn shall also come: I sense the spreading of a wing. Osip Mandelstam

The Russian poet was born on this day in 1891.

Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam^[1] (Russian: О́сип Эми́льевич Мандельшта́м; IPA: [ˈosʲɪp ɪˈmʲilʲjɪvʲɪt͡ɕ məndʲɪlʲˈʂtam]; January 15 [O.S. January 3] 1891 – December 27, 1938) was a Russian poet and essayist who lived in Russia during and after its revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school of poets. He was arrested by Joseph Stalin's government during the repression of the 1930s and sent into internal exile with his wife Nadezhda. Given a reprieve of sorts, they moved to Voronezh in southwestern Russia. In 1938 Mandelstam was arrested again and sentenced to a camp inSiberia. He died that year at a transit camp.

If you can't go back to your mother's womb, you'd better learn to be a good fighter. Anchee Min

The author of Red Azalea was born on this day in 1957.

Anchee Min (閔安琪; Mín Ānqí; born January 14, 1957) is a Chinese-Americanpainter, photographer, musician, and author who lives in San Francisco andShanghai. Min has published a memoir, Red Azalea, and six historical novels. Her fiction emphasizes strong female characters, such as Jiang Qing, the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong, and Empress Dowager Cixi, the last ruling empress of China.

“God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer.” —Anne Sexton

Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart. Haruki Murakami

The author of Kafka on the Shore was born on this day in 1949.

Haruki Murakami (村上 春樹 Murakami Haruki^?, born January 12, 1949) is a Japanese writer and translator.^[1] His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Franz Kafka Prizeand the Jerusalem Prize, among others.

Murakami's fiction, often criticized by Japan's literary establishment, is humorous and surreal, focusing on themes ofalienation and loneliness.^[2] He is considered an important figure in postmodern literature. The Guardian praised Murakami as "among the world's greatest living novelists" for his works and achievements.^[3]

“Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits.” — Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He was the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and another for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat".