Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were, in the eye. Many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.

Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image, but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye.

This will destroy that. The book will kill the edifice.

If we took something like any fiction, any holy book… and destroyed it, in a thousand year’s time that wouldn’t come back just as it was. Whereas if we took every science book, and every fact, and destroyed them all, in a thousand years time, they’d all be back.

قتل الكتاب الجيد يماثل قتل إنسان

You can’t destroy knowledge. You can stamp it under and burn it up and forbid it to be, but somewhere it will survive.

For books are not absolutely dead things, but ...do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. I know they are as lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous Dragon's teeth; and being sown up and down, may chance to spring up armed men....Yet on the other hand unless wariness be used, as good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book; who kills a Man kills a reasonable creature, God's Image; but he who destroys a good Book, kills reason itself, kills the Image of God, as it were in the eye. Many a man lives a burden to the Earth; but a good Book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.

If you destroy education, you destroy humanity.

There are few sights sadder than a ruined book.

A culture that permits science to destroy traditional values but which distrusts its power to create new ones is a culture which is destroying itself.

Holy books are an insult to a God with good intentions.

Soy enemigo de todos los libros, y si pudiera destruir los míos, no dejaría de hacerlo.

Destroying art is practice for destroying people.

"Writing is more about destroying than creating" (195).