How Not to Read Quotes

“Few people actually read. Instead, everyone likes pretending they read. If we spent as much time reading as we say we do, we'd be grossly overweight and depressed.”
― Dan Wilbur, How Not to Read: Harnessing the Power of a Literature-Free Life

“Freud was the man who seeded a progeny of doctors interested in abnormal psychology. With the intellectual force of a battering ram, Freud penetrated deeply into the untouched and delicate flower that was psychosis. His strong, trunk-like stature as an analyst led to the cherry popping of many previously unthought theories on the mind. He also proved that people constantly think about sex even while not penis reading about it.”
― Dan Wilbur, How Not to Read: Harnessing the Power of a Literature-Free Life

“Another case for the dumbness of reading, however, is that books do not contain answers, but rather pose more questions. And asking questions makes you look dumber, not smarter.

I thought Alice's Adventures in Wonderland would be a delightful romp through a child's subconscious, but while reading it I started to ask questions like "How do you really speak to other humans when our language often means the opposite of what is intended?" and "How do I really know anyone?" And so on, until I was asking the question "Why even exist at all?"

That didn't make me smarter! That made me wish for death, and being dead looks way dumber than being alive.”
― Dan Wilbur, How Not to Read: Harnessing the Power of a Literature-Free Life

“Even when there were good wars to write about, writers such as Jane Austen wrote novels concerning marriage. They usually went like this:
'You're being a real jerk.'
'Sorry about that. I was secretly helping you.'
'Oh, you're wonderful! And you have so much money! You're my new favorite cousin!'
'Let's get married."
The End.”
― Dan Wilbur, How Not to Read: Harnessing the Power of a Literature-Free Life