Reading maketh a full man; and writing an axact man. And, therefore, if a man write little, he need have a present wit; and if he read little, he need have much cunning to seem to know which he doth not.

Francis Bacon
About This Quote

Reading maketh a full man; and writing an axact man. And, therefore, if a man write little, he need have a present wit; and if he read little, he need have much cunning to seem to know which he doth not. This quote is from William Shakespeare’s "Hamlet." It’s part of the famous speech by Hamlet in Act II Scene IV. Hamlet is talking to his friend Horatio about the difference between reading and writing.

Writing requires hard work and lots of it. Reading requires nothing but time and nothing but time. The trouble with reading is that while you’re doing it, you don’t feel like you’re doing anything at all and you don’t get any results.

But reading does make a full man or woman.

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