Things do go wrong, ... We had sent all these books to Nepal, but then we did an evaluation with local teachers.

Reading stimulates the imagination and a good imagination can change the world in the most splendid of ways.

Oscar was raised to believe that if he stayed in his room reading about made up worlds it meant he didn't appreciate the life he had, the possessions his parents had worked hard for, like the TV and the video and the newly turfed back garden.

I'm not too interested in books about India.

[A]s Agatha Swanburne once said, 'To be kept waiting is unfortunate, but to be kept waiting with nothing interesting to read is a tragedy of Greek proportions.

A book unlike a television program, moving picture or any other "modern means of communication" can wait for years, yet be available at any moment when it happens to be needed.