All that mankind has done, thought, gained, or been; it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books.

Thomas Carlyle
All that mankind has done, thought, gained, or been; it...
All that mankind has done, thought, gained, or been; it...
All that mankind has done, thought, gained, or been; it...
All that mankind has done, thought, gained, or been; it...
About This Quote

All that mankind has done, thought, gained , or been; it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books. This quote by Mark Twain is exceptionally alluring. It reinforces the notion that all knowledge and information can be preserved for generations to come by writing it down. The fact that all human knowledge has been written down makes us feel safe.

When something happens to us, we know that other people have experienced or felt the same thing before us. The fact that this life is so fleeting makes us all the more glad to be able to preserve our memories for others to read after we are gone.

Some Similar Quotes
  1. A half-read book is a half-finished love affair. - David Mitchell
  2. The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  3. It starts so young, and I'm angry about that. The garbage we're taught. About love, about what's "romantic." Look at so many of the so-called romantic figures in books and movies. Do we ever stop and think how many of them would cause serious and... - Deb Caletti
  4. I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men."" Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes,... - Jane Austen
  5. Someone once wrote that a novel should deliver a series of small astonishments. I get the same thing spending an hour with you. - E. Lockhart
More Quotes By Thomas Carlyle
  1. If time is precious, no book that will not improve by repeated readings deserves to be read at all.
  2. He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything
  3. Every poet... finds himself born in the midst of prose. He has to struggle from the littleness and obstruction of an actual world into the freedom and infinitude of an ideal.
  4. If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of it.
  5. The lies (Western slander) which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man (Muhammad) are disgraceful to ourselves only.
Related Topics