Tsundoku Quotes

“The buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching toward infinity...”
― A. Edward Newton

“Ultimately, the number of books always exceeds the space they are granted.”
― Alberto Manguel, The Library at Night

“I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have unlimited patience. They will wait for me till the end of my days.”
― Alberto Manguel, The Library at Night

“Even when reading is impossible, the presence of books acquired produces such an ecstasy that the buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching towards infinity... We cherish books even if unread, their mere presence exudes comfort, their ready access reassurance.”
― A. Edward Newton, The Amenities of Book Collecting And Kindred Affections

“Who was it who said, "I hold the buying of more books than one can peradventure read, as nothing less than the soul's reaching towards infinity; which is the only thing that raises us above the beasts that perish?" Whoever it was, I agree with him.”
― A. Edward Newton, A magnificent farce and other diversions of a book collector

“Collect books, even if you don’t plan on reading them right away. Filmmaker John Waters has said, “Nothing is more important than an unread library.”
― Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

“The to-read pile is more than just a physical stack of books: it's a tower of ambitions failed, hopes unrealised, good intentions unfulfilled. Worse still, it's a cold hard reminder of mortality. Already, I have intentions to read more books than I can hope to manage in a normal lifetime. How will this pile of books taunt me when I'm 64?”
― Sam Jordison

“Organizing the books was a fun afternoon. We decided to put the thick hardback books, mostly intro. to philosophy textbooks and Norton literature anthologies, on the top shelves where they looked good but stayed out of reach since there's no reason for opening them ever again. Then we went by genre: mysteries, cozies, modernists, mountains, sci-fi, beloved childhood volumes, books we bought abroad, books required in school we couldn't sell back, books bought for us we'll read soon, books bought for us we have no intention of reading, books we want to read but are too long for a commitment with our current schedules...We're not really done with this organization, and I doubt we ever will be, but that's one great part about it.”
― Joshua Isard, Conquistador of the Useless

“Tsundoku

(Japanese) Buying books and not reading them; letting books pile up on shelves or floors or nightstands.

My parents used to joke about making furniture out of them; instead of being coffee table books, they could be the coffee table. Ditto on nightstands, counters, roofs. When we were kids, my brother and I, teased about always reading, built a wall. Right through the middle of the neighborhood, protected ourselves with fiction and with facts. I loved the encyclopedias best; the weight of them, how my grandmother made me walk with one on my head to practice being a lady. It wasn’t until college that I built a grand stairway out of them; their glossy blue jackets looked like marble in the moonlight. I climbed it, to the top of the wall. Peering over, I found you, on the other side, alone in your bed, asleep. That was the first time you dreamed me. In your dream, you told me not to jump. But to be patient. (We were young then, it would be years before we’d meet) and then this morning, I found you in my bedroom. In your hands, How to Rope and Tie a Steer, a mug of coffee, a piece of slightly burned toast. I took The Sun Also Rises from the wall, made the first window into your heart.”
― Julia Klatt Singer, Untranslatable

“A great private collection is a material concentrate that continually stimulates, that overexcites. Not only because it can always be added to, but because it is already too much. The collector’s need is precisely for excess, for surfeit, for profusion. It’s too much—and it’s just enough for me. … A collection is always more than is necessary.”
― Susan Sontag, The Volcano Lover

“Her seven-year-old self had decided that stealing books was morally bankrupt, but since the books hadn’t actually left the library—they’d merely been relocated—it wasn’t technically stealing. Echo looked around at her sea of tomes, and a single word came to mind: Tsundoku. It was the Japanese word for letting books pile up without reading them all.”
― Melissa Grey, The Girl at Midnight

“...I had decided to tidy up a bit.

Actually it hadn't really been a choice. The situation had got out of hand, particularly because of the books. Apart from those on the shelves, there were books everywhere. On the floor, on the tables, on the sofas, in the bathroom, in the kitchen—and let's be honest, not all of them were indispensable.”
― Gianrico Carofiglio, La regola dell'equilibrio

“Flo n'avait pas l'air conditionné, c'était trop cher, en revanche elle avait beaucoup de livres. Ses étagères en étaient remplies, il n'y restait plus un centimètre libre. Les voir la rassurait et la calmait. Elle en avait lu une majorité, mais il y en avait encore beaucoup à lire, ce qui suscitait chez elle une certaine excitation et lui évoquait un de ses mots préférés en japonais, tsundoku – un terme sans équivalent dans d'autres langues : acheter des livres et les entasser sur une étagère sans les lire.”
― Nick Bradley, The Cat and The City