87 Quotes by Clifton Fadiman

A bottle of wine begs to be shared; I have never met a miserly wine lover. The social emotions it generates are equidistant from the philatelist's solitary gloating and the football fan's gregarious hysteria.

One newspaper a day ought to be enough for anyone who still prefers to retain a little mental balance.

For most men, life is a search for the proper Manila envelope in which to get themselves filed.

To take wine into your mouth is to savor a droplet of the river of human history.

One's first book, kiss, home run is always the best.

A man who is careful with his palate is not likely to be careless with his paragraphs.

We are all citizens of history.

When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before.

[Books] will visit you at your convenience, whether you are lonesome or not, on rainy days or fair. They propose themselves as either transient acquaintances or permanent friends. They will stay as long as you like, departing or returning as you wish. Their friendship entails no obligation. Best of all, and not always true of our merely human friends, they have Cleopatra's infinite variety.