19 Quotes by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Imaginative writings can lead to action, but they do not have to. They belong to the realm of fine art.A work of fine art is "fine" not because it is "refined," but because it is an end (finis, Latin, means end) in itself. It does not move toward some result beyond itself. It is, as Emerson said of beauty, its own excuse for being.

One reason why fiction is a human necessity is that it satisfies many unconscious as well as conscious needs. It would be important if it only touched the conscious mind, as expository writing does. But fiction is important, too, because it also touches the unconscious.[How to Read a Book (1972), P. 215]

No general knowledge is expressible except in abstract terms. There is nothing particularly difficult about abstractions. We use them every day of our lives and in every sort of conversation. However, the words "abstract" and "concrete" seem to trouble many persons. [How to Read a Book (1972), P. 283]

The book of practical principles may look at first like a theoretical book. In a sense it is, as we have seen. It deals with the theory of a particular kind of practice. You can always tell it is practical, however. The nature of its problems gives it away. It is always about a field of human behavior in which men can do better or worse. [How to Read a Book (1972), P. 190]

To understand what kind of filter our reporter's mind is, we must ask a series of questions about it. This amounts to asking a series of questions about any material dealing with current events. The questions are these:1. What does the author want to prove? 2. Whom does he want to convince? 3. What special knowledge does he assume? 4. What special language does he use? 5. Does he really know what he is talking about? [How to Read a Book (1972), P. 244]

Why do certain words pop out of the poem and stare you in the face? Is it because the rhythm marks them? Or the rhyme? Or are the words repeated? Do several stanzas seem to be about the same ideas; if so, do these ideas form any kind of sequence?[How to Read a Book (1972), P. 225]

Analytical reading is also active, of course. But when you read a book analytically, you put yourself in a relation to it of disciple to master. When you read syntopically, you must be the master of the situation. [How to Read a Book (1972), P. 309]

A historical fact, though we may have a feeling of trust and solidity about the word, is one of the most elusive things in the world. [How to Read a Book (1972), P. 231]

We have already quoted Basil Willey on the difficulty—and the importance—of discovering the hidden and unstated assumptions of an author, to say nothing of our own. This goes for any book. It applies to works in philosophy with particular force. [How to Read a Book (1972), P. 280]