An open book has fanned pages rising into a small paper bird against a warm golden background.

Original artwork, not a still

Parnassus on Wheels ‧ 1955

Christopher Morley

When you sell a man a book you don't sell him just 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue'you sell him a whole new life.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The line contrasts a book's physical ingredients with the change it can bring to a reader. Selling paper, ink and glue becomes selling a new life. The exaggeration gives reading transformative value beyond the modest weight and ordinary materials of the object.

Context reviewed

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