Sidewalk Bookstand

The soul of a community is measured by the health of its independent bookstores. In New York City, we’re fortunate to have many independent bookstores that take on the personalities of their owners, customers, and the streets and sidewalks that surround them. This week marks Independent Bookstore Week NYC, which means New Yorkers everywhere have a reason to celebrate. Our independent bookstores say more about us than our schools, churches, synagogues, fire stations, bodegas, and restaurants. The simple act of reading is a form of prayer where we acknowledge there is more to know, there is more to learn, there is more to who we are than who we are right now. The stories of strangers can help us understand ourselves, and independent bookstores are where we meet these strangers – many of whom are often recommended to us by familiar faces behind the register.

Book Quotes:

“Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.” – Author Unknown

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” – Mark Twain, attributed

“There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a tired man who wants a book to read.” – G.K. Chesterton

“No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.” – Mary Wortley Montagu

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” – P.J. O’Rourke

“Books support us in our solitude and keep us from being a burden to ourselves.” – Jeremy Collier

“Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time.” – E.P. Whipple

“He who lends a book is an idiot. He who returns the book is more of an idiot.” – Arabic Proverb

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” – Cicero