# What does this quote mean to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929 "2014-09-30T02:03:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EndlessEntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f9ae1b/32.png) [@EndlessEntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EndlessEntropy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/1 "2014-09-30T02:03:21Z")
This isn’t for any essay, assignment or homework. It’s probably my favorite quote of anything because I love to read and I’m just curious to see how others interpret it. "A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” -John Milton, _Areopagitica_ A work on licensing and censorship (also heads the doorway toward the main reading room in the NY public library). Personally, I think it means that a quality book is the heart and soul of the author and will survive long after the author’s death with lasting impact on humans (life beyond life). ---
**Author:** ![djharts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@djharts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djharts)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/2 "2014-09-30T02:23:44Z")
I once asked a fellow artist why he painted. He replied that he wanted to be remembered after he was dead. Personally speaking, I draw and paint (mainly caricatures and portraits) because I enjoy creating stuff and interacting with clients, not because I want to be immortalised by my art. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/3 "2014-09-30T04:02:30Z")
It’s difficult for me to reconcile the image of something embalmed with the notion that it has life. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/4 "2014-09-30T06:48:12Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > It’s difficult for me to reconcile the image of something embalmed with the notion that it has life. “What is dead may never die,” eh? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/5 "2014-09-30T07:23:02Z")
> [@EndlessEntropy](#): > > This isn’t for any essay, assignment or homework. It’s probably my favorite quote of anything because I love to read and I’m just curious to see how others interpret it. > > "A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” > > -John Milton, _Areopagitica_ A work on licensing and censorship (also heads the doorway toward the main reading room in the NY public library). > > Personally, I think it means that a quality book is the heart and soul of the author and will survive long after the author’s death with lasting impact on humans (life beyond life). I don’t really disagree with your interpretation, but I think “precious life-blood of a master spirit” would be too egotistical for someone to say of himself (herself). Therefore it seems to be something along the lines of a _zeitgeist_ or _ideas or attitudes of the time of the writing_ that are being preserved. Either way it’s an acknowledgment that the writing will outlast the writer. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/6 "2014-09-30T08:06:13Z")
Once, while discussing creativity tools and writer’s block here on the boards, I explained that I often find myself reluctant to _finish_ writing something, even when I’m perfectly capable of doing so. This is what I said then: > [@Balance](#): > > You see, as long as I haven’t finished a story, it’s alive. It can go anywhere. The ideas are like butterflies flitting around a garden in my mind, and I can sit and watch them and admire their beauty. Writing them down is like netting the butterflies and pinning them to a display board. They may still be beautiful…but they’re dead. Static. An actualization of limited beauty at the cost of potential greater beauty. > > So…I procrastinate. I sit there in my garden, picking the butterflies I want to collect, without actually picking up the net–or letting them escape after I catch them. I have to force myself to go through with it, and console myself with whatever enjoyment my poor, dead ideas may bring to others, who would never have gotten to see them in the garden. And I have to do that knowing that it may be for nothing, that others may not find them beautiful at all, and killing them was a waste. I’m not so conceited as to think every idea I enjoy would appeal to anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/7 "2014-09-30T14:34:53Z")
"A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” **A Note On The Type** The text of this book was set in a typeface called Infyrnael designed by Azrael DeHades (1264 - 1516). It is famed for its use of human blood to trap spirits, thus enabling DeHades’ mummified corpse to achieve a kind of half-life beyond life. The font has been featured in such notable publications as _The Necromicon_ (2nd edition) and _Highlights_ magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/8 "2014-09-30T14:49:20Z")
> [@djharts](#): > > Personally speaking, I draw and paint (mainly caricatures and portraits) because I enjoy creating stuff and interacting with clients, not because I want to be immortalised by my art. “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.” - Woody Allen ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/9 "2014-09-30T19:31:11Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I don’t really disagree with your interpretation, but I think “precious life-blood of a master spirit” would be too egotistical for someone to say of himself (herself). Therefore it seems to be something along the lines of a _zeitgeist_ or _ideas or attitudes of the time of the writing_ that are being preserved. > > Either way it’s an acknowledgment that the writing will outlast the writer. I surely agree with the ego bit. It’s possible, though, that the “master spirit” is an avid reader, who is kept “alive” by good books. If that’s the case, it might mean that reading great books makes for a master spirit. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/10 "2014-09-30T19:40:02Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > It’s possible, though, that the “master spirit” is an avid reader, who is kept “alive” by good books. If that’s the case, it might mean that reading great books makes for a master spirit. That’s how I read it – that books add to the basic life we have, enriches it and makes it deeper and more faceted. They add another dimension to life. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/11 "2014-09-30T19:42:25Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I surely agree with the ego bit. > > It’s possible, though, that the “master spirit” is an avid reader, who is kept “alive” by good books. If that’s the case, it might mean that reading great books makes for a master spirit. Nice! In many ways reading is staying in touch, and often with those who have already gone on to whatever is next… ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/12 "2014-09-30T20:03:45Z")
I want to add to and explain my earlier post. It was flippant for a reason, but I don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea. Although I understand and love the _intent_ that is "A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” the word choice is purple prose. And it’s dark purple. I know it’s Milton, and I know it’s poetry, but still. It sounds like Anne Rice. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/13 "2014-09-30T20:05:56Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > I want to add to and explain my earlier post. It was flippant for a reason, but I don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea. Although I understand and love the _intent_ that is "A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” the word choice is purple prose. And it’s dark purple. I know it’s Milton, and I know it’s poetry, but still. It sounds like Anne Rice. Or Ayn Rand, if it’s all about the writer rather than the reader. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/14 "2014-09-30T20:13:28Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Or Ayn Rand, if it’s all about the writer rather than the reader. 🙂 Yo, **Boyo Jim** , that’s too much like [Bulwer Lytton](http://bulwer-lytton.com/)! You know a bit about that, don’t you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/15 "2014-09-30T20:20:52Z")
I pretty much agree with your interpretation - whenever you write something, you take your deepest emotions and bottle them, preserving them to exist long after you die. > [@Zeldar](#): > > I don’t really disagree with your interpretation, but I think “precious life-blood of a master spirit” would be too egotistical for someone to say of himself (herself). You obviously haven’t met many writers. 😉 (Kidding, kidding . . . well, with a few exceptions. _coughcough_HarlanEllison_coughcough_ ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/16 "2014-09-30T20:27:45Z")
Honestly? A bunch of words that individually have meaning but lose it when strung together in that order. The only deep thoughts I relate to are from Jack Handy. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/17 "2014-09-30T20:39:17Z")
My personal favorite quote about this subject has no purple prose at all. It’s for William Nicholson in _Shadowlands_. “We read to know we’re not alone.” ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/18 "2014-10-01T21:53:50Z")
To me it suggests that the essence of a good book comes from a place “beyond”. All goods books are evidence of a great artistic “master” and as blood they both come from him and sustain him. To read them is to experience that “other” and once written they become everlasting and immortal for others to come. Not sure I’d go that far and it doesn’t grab me as a great line but, context is everything and ymmv of course. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/19 "2014-10-01T23:46:42Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > "A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” > [@djharts](#): > > I once asked a fellow artist why he painted. He replied that he wanted to be remembered after he was dead. Could it mean that the artist is just the pen or the brush? That the the spirit of the atrt flowed through the artist to be trapped and treasured for its purpose for all to see beyond the artist’s life? I’m not implying that they feel that it is for the artist to be remembered after they are dead… but that it is the art that is important. That it will live on to be read and appreciated long after the blood that created it dries to dust? I can see these words being inspirational to an artist and can only hope that the OP is one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929/20 "2014-10-01T23:50:10Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Honestly? A bunch of words that individually have meaning but lose it when strung together in that order. > > The only deep thoughts I relate to are from Jack Handy. Just want you to know I have been laughing about this post most of the day! Thanks! I’m a big fan of _Deep Thoughts_ myself. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-quote-mean-to-you/699929.md?page=2)