John Waters? Austin Kleon? Apocryphal?
Dear Quote Investigator: Building a library is an enjoyable lifelong pursuit. Intellectually engaged people are often bibliomaniacs. Yet, many acquired volumes are never read. This behavior has been condemned and praised in two radically different statements that differ by a single word:
(1) Nothing is more impotent than an unread library.
(2) Nothing is more important than an unread library.
Remarkably, both of these comments have been attributed to the transgressive filmmaker John Waters. Would you please explore this topic?
Quote Investigator: In 2010 John Waters published “Role Models” which contained the following passage. Boldface added to excepts by QI:[1] 2010, Role Models by John Waters, Chapter: Bookworm, Quote Page 163, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. (Verified with scans)
Being rich is not about how much money you have or how many homes you own; it’s the freedom to buy any book you want without looking at the price and wondering if you can afford it. Of course, you have to read the books, too. Nothing is more impotent than an unread library.
John Waters did not employ the variant statement with the word “important”. It was mistakenly credited to Waters in a 2012 book mentioned further below.
Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Continue reading “Nothing Is More Impotent Than an Unread Library”
References
| ↑1 | 2010, Role Models by John Waters, Chapter: Bookworm, Quote Page 163, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. (Verified with scans) |
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