The most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose he or she really loves is to learn it by heart. Not by brain, by heart; the expression is vital.

Quote by George Steiner

Topics: George Steiner Quotes

The immense majority of human biographies are a gray transit between domestic spasm and oblivion.

The immense majority of human biographies are a gray transit between domestic spasm and oblivion.

The age of the book is almost gone.

The age of the book is almost gone.

Books - the best antidote against the marsh-gas of boredom and vacuity.

Books - the best antidote against the marsh-gas of boredom and vacuity.

The ordinary man casts a shadow in a way we do not quite understand. The...

The ordinary man casts a shadow in a way we do not quite understand. The...

We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he...

We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he...

Men are accomplices to that which leaves them indifferent.

Men are accomplices to that which leaves them indifferent.

There is something terribly wrong with a culture inebriated by noise and gregariousness.

There is something terribly wrong with a culture inebriated by noise and gregariousness.

The journalistic vision sharpens to the point of maximum impact every event, every individual and...

The journalistic vision sharpens to the point of maximum impact every event, every individual and...

To many men... the miasma of peace seems more suffocating than the bracing air of...

To many men... the miasma of peace seems more suffocating than the bracing air of...

Language can only deal meaningfully with a special, restricted segment of reality. The rest, and...

Language can only deal meaningfully with a special, restricted segment of reality. The rest, and...

Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life.

Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life.

The journalistic vision sharpens to the point of maximum impact every event, every individual and...

The journalistic vision sharpens to the point of maximum impact every event, every individual and...

Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is...

Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is...

Publishing is a business, but journalism never was and is not essentially a business. Nor...

Publishing is a business, but journalism never was and is not essentially a business. Nor...

The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. [For] to a degree, people...

The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. [For] to a degree, people...

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will...

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will...

Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it.

Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it.

I hope we never live to see the day when a thing is as bad...

I hope we never live to see the day when a thing is as bad...

The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything. Except what is worth knowing. Journalism,...

The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything. Except what is worth knowing. Journalism,...

Many people would no more think of entering journalism than the sewage business - which...

Many people would no more think of entering journalism than the sewage business - which...

Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.

Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.