55 Inspirational Quotes on Reading Habits (And Their Importance)

Explore the most inspirational quotes on reading habits and quotes about the importance of reading in order to motivate yourself to improve your own reading habits.

“Reading habits” has quickly become a popular topic on The Literary Lifestyle, and I think that’s because of the popularity of the bestselling book Atomic Habits by James Clear, which teaches readers how to quickly and easily integrate desired behaviors into their regular routines.

“Habits” is a buzzworthy word that’s great at conveying the goal of doing something that’s good for you so often it becomes natural to your daily way of life.

And quotes can be a great way to keep us motivated in our journeys to better habits. So, that’s the focus of this post. While I love poetic quotes about reading and the beauty of books too, this post is not about that. Rather, this post is about helping us make a reading habit and answer the question, “Why is reading important?”

So, in compiling these reading-importance quotes, I focused on curating the words of thought leaders, successful readers, and the like. These quotes on the importance of books are the type of words you can use on your habit trackers, screensavers, senior quotes, etc., to remind you how to be a better reader and why it matters.

Below are the best reading habits quotes, separated by short quotes you can quickly grab and go (for things like quote bookmarks), and then longer inspirational quotes on reading habits on which you can ruminate.

Short Quotes on Reading Habits

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss quote about learning; Dr. Seuss graduation quote

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller

“I read a book one day and my whole life was changed.” – Orhan Pamuk

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglas

“Never underestimate the power of a girl with a book.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

“Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible.” – Barack Obama

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” – Victor Hugo

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

“Books were my path to personal freedom.” -Oprah Winfrey

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” – J.K. Rowling

“Never put off till tomorrow the book you can read today.” – Holbrook Jackson

“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn

“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.” – Mary Schmich

“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.” – Kofi Annan

“Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding.” – Bill Gates

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” – Joseph Addison

“I will defend the importance of bedtime stories to my last gasp.”  – JK Rowling

“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest (people) of the past centuries.” – Descartes

“All I have learned, I learned from books.” – Abraham Lincoln

“If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.” – Roald Dahl

“Reading brings us unknown friends.” – Honoré de Balzac

“When you learn to read you will be born again.” – Rumer Godden

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” – Victor Hugo

“A fondness for reading, properly directed, must be an education in itself.” – Jane Austen

“Read, read, read.” – William Faulkner

“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” – Harry S. Truman

“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” – Henry David Thoreau

“The best advice I ever got was that knowledge is power and to keep reading.” – David Bailey

“A well-read woman is a dangerous creature.” – Lisa Kleypas

“He that loves reading has everything within his reach.”  – William Godwin

“Reading is a way for me to expand my mind, open my eyes, and fill up my heart.” – Oprah

“Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.” – Harold Bloom

“The world belongs to those who read.” – Rick Holland

More Inspirational Quotes on Reading Habits

“I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.” – Warren Buffett

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” – Mortimer J. Adler

“Reading one book is like eating one potato chip.” – Diane Duane

“I have challenged myself that I will read thousands of books and I will empower myself with knowledge. Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism.” – Malala Yousafzai

“By reading only six hours a-day, I shall gain in the course of a twelve-month a great deal of instruction which I now feel myself to want.” – Jane Austen

“I am reading six books at once, the only way of reading; since, as you will agree, one book is only a single unaccompanied note, and to get the full sound, one needs ten others at the same time.” – Virginia Woolf

“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.” – John Locke

“Some men think more than they read. Others read more than they think. Those who practice both, grow wise. Those who follow neither, remain ignorant.” – John Leland

“Reading changes your life. Reading unlocks worlds unknown or forgotten, taking travelers around the world and through time. Reading helps you escape the confines of school and pursue your own education.” – Donalyn Miller

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” – Oscar Wilde

“You will learn most things by looking, but reading gives understanding. Reading will make you free.” – Paul Rand

“In my whole life, I have known no wise people … who didn’t read all the time — none, zero.” – Charles T. Munger

“It’s what you’re reading that matters, and how you’re reading it, not the speed with which you’re getting through it.” – Alan Jacobs

“Sleep is good, he said, and books are better.” – George R.R. Martin

“Reading is important, because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything.”  – Tomie dePaola

“Make reading your hobby, even if you don’t like to read. You will learn things that will prove useful when you least expect it.” – Neelabh Pratap Singh

“This week I’ve been reading a lot and doing little work. That’s the way things ought to be. That’s surely the road to success.” – Anne Frank

“Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled ‘This could change your life.'” – Helen Exley

“You see, one of the best things about reading is that you’ll always have something to think about when you’re not reading.” – James Patterson