12 quotes about reading to inspire writers

Like musicians who listen to music to analyze it, writers read to analyze. We also read to find inspiration. Whether it’s from the classics, modern fiction, comic books, recipe books, tweets, or New Yorker articles, we can always take away something to incorporate into our writing.

One of the secrets to good writing is simply reading.

Below are some inspirational quotes about books and reading, including a few by other writers.

1. “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
— George R.R. Martin

2. “Show me the books you read, and I’ll show you who you are.”
— Unknown

3. “If you cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use reading it at all.”
— Oscar Wilde

4. “For all I know, writing comes out of a superior devotion to reading.”
— Eudora Welty

5. “These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.”
— Gilbert Highet