Knowledge is like money: to be of value it must circulate, and in circulating it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value.
Louis L'AmourRead
I have read my books by many lights, hoarding their beauty, their wit or wisdom against the dark days when I would have no book, nor a place to read. I have known hunger of the belly kind many times over, but I have known a worse hunger: the need to know and to learn.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the value of knowledge and learning, contrasting it with physical hunger.
In this quote, Louis L'Amour reflects on the profound significance of books and the knowledge they provide. He contrasts his experiences of physical hunger with a deeper, more insatiable hunger for learning and understanding, suggesting that the thirst for knowledge can be more pressing than basic needs. This highlights the enduring power of literature and education as sources of sustenance for the mind and spirit, especially during difficult times.
Themes
KnowledgeLearningEducationBooksWisdomHunger
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a speech about the importance of education and lifelong learning.
More from Louis L'Amour
All quotes →One who returns to a place sees it with new eyes. Although the place may not have changed, the viewer inevitably has. For the first time things invisible before become suddenly visible.
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Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.
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If you wait for inspiration, you're not a writer, but a waiter.
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Books are the perfect Time Machine. By the simple act of opening a book you can, in an instant, be travelling up a jungle river without once being bitten by mosquitoes, or you can almost die of thirst in the desert while holding a cold drink in your hand, or dine in the finest restaurants and never have to worry about paying the bill, or ride the wild country of our western frontier and never worry about losing your scalp to a raiding party.
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Adventure is just a romantic name for trouble. It sounds swell when you write about it, but it's hell when you meet it face to face in a dark and lonely place.
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