Thoughtful Thursday, 14 of July

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!

This week my question is deceptively easy: why do you read? What do you look for in a book? Is it an escapism pure or simple or something beyond that ? What is more important to you: an interesting plotline, great philosophical remarks, characters you can relate to, action-packed plot or maybe just those steamy sex scenes and never-ending HEAs ? 

Here are some quotes and pics I found about reading and liked enough to post here:

“To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.”  A C Grayling, Financial Times (in a review of A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel)

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read.”  Abraham Lincoln

"She understood now why her friend Elizabeth, with her near-genius, analytical mind gave wide berth to murder mysteries, psychological thrillers, and horror stories, and read only romance novels. Because, by God, when a woman picked up one of those steamy books, she had a firm guarantee that there would be a Happily-Ever-After. That though the world outside those covers could bring such sorrow and disappointment and loneliness, between those covers, the world was a splendid place to be."

—Karen Marie Moning

“To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and travel in his company.” - Andre Gide “Give me a man or woman who has read a thousand books and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a man or woman who has read perhaps three and you give me a dangerous enemy indeed.” - Anne Rice, The Witching Hour “Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought.” - Arthur Helps “No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” - Confucius “The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries.” - Descartes “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” - Groucho Marx “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read.” - Mark Twain “I divide all readers into two classes: Those who read to remember and those who read to forget.” - William Phelps “All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality -- the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape.” - Arthur Christopher Benson