Helene Hanff quotes

Standing there, staring at the long shelves crammed with books, I felt myself relax and was suddenly at peace. (Helene Hanff)
I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comradely sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages someone long gone has called my attention to. View quote
Helene Hanff
If you happen to pass by 84 Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me? I owe it so much. View quote
Helene Hanff
Why is it that people who wouldn't dream of stealing anything else think it's perfectly all right to steal books? View quote
Helene Hanff
It looks too new and pristine ever to have been read by anyone else, but it has been: it keeps falling open at the most delightful places as the ghost of its former owner points me to things I've never read before. View quote
Helene Hanff
I do love secondhand books that open to the page some previous owner read oftenest. The day Hazlitt came he opened to "I hate to read new books," and I hollered "Comrade!" to whoever owned it before me. View quote
Helene Hanff
It's against my principles to buy a book I haven't read, it's like buying a dress you haven't tried on. View quote
Helene Hanff
I personally can't think of anything less sacrosanct than a bad book or even a mediocre book. View quote
Helene Hanff