Writers write. And the whole process seems pointless unless readers read what they write.

And how can writers write unless they’re readers, too?

So no one should be surprised that writers write about reading and readers. Here’s some of what they’ve had to say:

The necessity of reading

“The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” — Samuel Johnson

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” ― Dr. Seuss

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” –Stephen King

“Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.” –William Faulkner

“Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.” ― Lisa See

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” ― Ray Bradbury

“Let others pride themselves about how many pages they have written; I’d rather boast about the ones I’ve read.” ― Jorge Luis Borges

The joy of reading

“My daughter is seven, and some of the other second-grade parents complain that their children don’t read for pleasure. When I visit their homes, the children’s rooms are crammed with expensive books, but the parent’s rooms are empty. Those children do not see their parents reading, as I did every day of my childhood. By contrast, when I walk into an apartment with books on the shelves, books on the bedside tables, books on the floor, and books on the toilet tank, then I know what I would see if I opened the door that says ‘PRIVATE–GROWNUPS KEEP OUT’: a child sprawled on the bed, reading.” ― Anne Fadiman

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” ― Jane Austen

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” ― C.S. Lewis

“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” — Aldous Huxley

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies,” said Jojen. “The man who never reads lives only one.”– George R.R. Martin

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” ― Groucho Marx

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” ― Harper Lee