From Port of Call (Ingmar Bergman, 1948):

- What are you reading?
- A book.
- I can see that... but who wrote it?
- A sailor—Martinson.
- Do you really read this stuff?
- You're not interested in books?
- I used to be. My old man was a schoolmaster. He had lots of books. And at your age, you feel lonely. You're at sea, you see a lot of things. But you feel you're missing out on most of it. [Pause] I stopped. I started drinking instead. Books only make things worse. [Turns] Keep reading. [Puts on hat] Bye!

From The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Dorothy Sayers, 1928):

Of course," explained Parker, as he ushered Wimsey into the studio, "we've taken away all the chemicals and things. There's not much to look at, really."

"Well, you can deal best with all that. It's the books and paintings I want to look at. H'm! Books, you know, Charles, are like lobster shells, we surround ourselves with 'em, then we grow out of 'em and leave 'em behind, as evidence of our earlier stages of development."