Quotes from A History of Reading

Alberto Manguel ·  372 pages

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“اعطتني القراءة عذرًا مقبولًا لعزلتي، بل ربما اعطت مغزىً لتلك العزلة المفروضة عليّ”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of a book—that string of confused, alien ciphers—shivered into meaning. Words spoke to you, gave up their secrets; at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, a reader.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“Each book was a world unto itself, and in it I took refuge.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“I wanted to live among books.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“أنا أعرف تماماً أنّ شيئاً ما يموت في داخلي عندما أستغني عن كتبي, وأن ذكرياتي تعود إليها دوماً وأبداً وتصيبني بحنين مؤلم للغاية”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading



“I don't remember ever feeling lonely; in fact, on the rare occasions when I met other children I found their games and their talk far less interesting than the adventures and dialogues I read in my books.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“كنت أنظر دوماً إلى الروايات كمنتوج تافه , إلاّ أنني اكتشفتُ أخيراً أنها مفيدة للغاية ضد الكآبة”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“كان سقراط مقتنعاً بأنّ القراءة لا يمكن أن توقظ داخل القارئ إلاّ ما كان القارئ يعرفه سلفا وبأنّ الحكمة لا يمكن الحصول عليها من أحرف صمّاء ميتة .”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“كان تحمسي مفرطاً إلى درجة أني كنتُ أظن سأصبح إنسانة غير سعيدة إن لم أعثر دوماً على كتاب جديد أقرأه”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“Life happened because I turned the pages.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading



“غير أن القراءة بالفراش تعتبر أكثر من مجرد تمضية للوقت, إنها تمثل نوعاً من الوحدة فالمرء يتراجع مركزاً على ذاته ويترك الجسد يرتاح,ويجعل من نفسه بعيداً لا يمكن الوصول إليه مخفياً عن العالم”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“أعطتني القراءة عذرا مقبولا لعزلتي، بل ربما أعطت مغزى لتلك العزلة المفروضة علي.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“في القرن الثالث عشر كتب أحدهم على حافة مجلد يضم التواريخ الكنسية : " عند قراءة الكتب عليك أن تعتاد على ملاحظة المعنى أكثر من الكلمات , والتمسك بالثمار وليس بالقشور ”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“I soon discovered that one doesn't simply read Crime and Punishment or A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. One reads a certain edition, a specific copy, recognizable by the roughness or the smoothness of its paper, by its scent, by a slight tear on page 72 and a coffee ring on the right-hand corner of the back cover. ”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“Readers are bullied in schoolyards and in locker-rooms as much as in government offices and prisons.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading



“نحن نعرف أننا نقرأ حتى عندما نتخلى عن عدم تصديقنا , وعندما نفقد القربى من النص ; نحن نعرف لماذا نقرأ حتى عندما لا نعرف كيف نقرأ ; في الوقت نفسه نحتفظ في عقولنا بالعالم الظاهري للنص ونتمسك بفعل القراءة . إننا نقرأ لأننا نريد العثور على النهاية . فقط لأننا نريد مواصلة القراءة . نحن نقرأ كالكشافة الذين يتقفون الخطى ناسين كل ما حولهم من أشياء . نقرأ شاردي الذهن متجاوزين بعض الصفحات . نقرأ باحتقار , بإعجاب , بملل , بانزعاج , بحماسة , بحسد وشوق . في بعض الأحيان تعترينا فرحة غامرة مفاجئة دون أن نستطيع القول ما هو السبب . (( بحق السماء ما هي هذة العاطفة ؟ )) سألت ربيكا وست بعد الإنتهاء من قراءة الملك لير . (( ماذا تتميز به أعمال الفن العظيمة التي تمارس عليّ هذا التأثير الباعث على السعادة ؟ )) إننا لا نعرف ذلك ; عند القراءة نحن سُذج . نحن نقرأ بحركات بطيئة وطويلة كما لو كنّا نسبح في الفضاء . نحن ممتلئون أحكاماً مسبقة وأحقاداً . أو أننا كرماء , نغفر للنص عيوبه ونتغافل عن ضعفه و نصحح أخطاءه . في بعض الأحيان , عندما تكون السماء صحوة صافية , نقرأ بأنفاس محبوسة , بارتجاف , كما لو أنّ أحدهم قد (( سار على قبرنا )) , كما لو أنّ ذكرى قديمة منسية عُثر عليها فجأة في داخلنا - التعرف على شيء ما سبق أن عرفنا أنه كان موجوداً , أو على شيء لم نشعر به إلا كوميض أو ظل , الذي ينطلق منا ويعود إلى داخلنا قبل أن نعرف ماذا حدث - بعدئذ نكون قد تقدمنا في السن وأصبحنا أكثر حكمة .”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“As centuries of dictators have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule; since the craft of reading cannot be untaught once it has been acquired, the second-best recourse is to limit its scope.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“Reading in bed is a self-centered act, immobile, free from ordinary social conventions, invisible to the world, and one that, because it takes place between the sheets, in the realm of lust and sinful idleness, has something of the thrill of things forbidden.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“All these are readers, and their gestures, their craft, the pleasure, the responsibility and the power they derive from reading, are common with mine. I am not alone.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“الإلحاح للحصول على كتاب وتملكه هو نوع من الشهوة التي لا يمكن مقارنتها بأي شهوة أخرى.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading



“إن النظم الشمولية ليست الوحيدة التي تخشى القراءة. بل وحتى في ساحات المدارس، وفي خزائن الملابس، وفي دوائر الدولة والسجون تجري مراقبة جمهور القراء بعين الارتياب، نظرا لما يشعر المرء به من سلطان،القراءة وقوتها الكامنة.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“في إحدى المناسبات سئل الحاخام ليفي اسحاق أحد كبار معلمي الحسيديين في القرن الثامن عشر عن سبب غياب الصفحة الأولى من جميع بحوث التلمود البابلي مما يدفع القارئ الى مباشرة القراءة بالصفحة الثانية. أجاب: (على الرغم من كثرة قراءات المرء، عليه ألا ينسى أبدا أنه لم يصل بعد إلى الصفحة الأولى ”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“شيئا ما يموت في داخلي عندما أستغني عن كتبي.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“We read in slow, long motions, as if drifting in space, weightless. We read full of prejudice, malignantly. We read generously, making excuses for the text, filling gaps, mending faults. And sometimes, when the stars are kind, we read with an intake of breath, with a shudder... as if a memory had suddenly been rescued from a place deep within us--the recognition of something we never knew was there...”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“أما الغريب في الأمر فهو أننا لا ننقطع أبدًا عن ممارسة فعل القراءة على الرغم من أننا لا نملك تفسيرًا مرضيًا لما نفعله”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading



“نحن وأين نحن موجودون؛نقرأ كي نفهم؛أو من أجل التوصل إلى الفهم.إننا لانستطيع فعل أي أمر مغاير:القراءة مثل التنفس؛إنها وظيفة حياتية أساسية.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“يظهر هذا في أن نفس الصفحة من الكتاب تدفع أحد القراء إلى التشكك في عقله والقارئ الآخر للضحك”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“And sometimes, when the stars are kind, we read with an intake of breath, with a shudder, as if someone or something had 'walked over our grave,' as if a memory had suddenly been rescued from a place deep within us - the recognition of something we never knew was there, or of something we vaguely felt as a flicker or a shadow, whose ghostly form rises and passes back into us before we can see what it is, leaving us older and wiser.”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


“إن أحترام الكتابة ناحية تتميز فيها كل الثقافات التي تعرف الكتابة . ويتميز الإسلام عن بقية الأديان الأخرى في هذه الناحية بالذات : فهو لا يرى القرآن كتابا منزلا من الله وحسب , بل صفة من صفات الله , تماما مثل حضوره في كل زمان ومكان مثل رحمته ...”
― Alberto Manguel, quote from A History of Reading


About the author

Alberto Manguel
Born place: in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Born date March 13, 1948
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