16+ Michael Dirda Quotes On Education, Religion And Book

Michael Dirda is an American literary critic and journalist. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic for The Washington Post, and is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, The New York Review of Books, and The American Scholar. He is the author of several books, including Classics for Pleasure and An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Michael Dirda on life, education, religion.

What matters are those ordinary acts of kindness and of love, not vaulting ambition with its attendant hubris and smugness. — Michael Dirda

Throughout history the exemplary teacher has never been just an instructor in a subject; he is nearly always its living advertisement. — Michael Dirda

The world is a library of strange and wonderful books, and sometimes we just need to go prowling through the stacks. — Michael Dirda

In PLATO AT THE GOOGLEPLEX, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein set out to showcase, in sometimes startling ways, the continuing relevance of a classic philosopher. But what's remarkable is that she actually brings off this tour de force with both madcap brilliance and commanding authority. — Michael Dirda

I sometimes lie awake at night and try to imagine what would be the best period in history to spend one's seventy-odd years. — Michael Dirda

Science fiction is, after all, the art of extrapolation. — Michael Dirda

This Is Not a Novel memorializes the treasures and detritus of one man's singularly cultured mind. (...) If you don't know Writer's work at all, try This Is Not a Novel. There may be some doubt about exactly what kind of book it is, but not that it's altogether wonderful. — Michael Dirda

Нe [Kurt Vonnegut] felt that life was largely a crap shoot and that we simply need to muddle on as best we can, being as kind and loving to one another as possible, right now. It's a pretty good philosophy, no matter what one's religious beliefs or lack of them. — Michael Dirda

Order and surprise: these are two intertwined elements that make for any great library or collection. — Michael Dirda

I think that his [Kurt Vonnegut's] appeal, though, will always be chiefly to adolescents. His sense of the world matches that of young people, who feel deeply life's absurdity. — Michael Dirda

I think the essence of [Kurt] Vonnegut's humanism lay in his emphasis on human kindness as, so to speak, our saving grace. — Michael Dirda

Best selling authors are always worth listening to, even if you choose to ignore their advice. — Michael Dirda

[Kurt] Vonnegut was a writer whose great gift was that he always seemed to be talking directly to you. He wasn't writing, he wasn't showing off, he was just telling you, nobody else, what it was like, what it was all about. That intimacy made him beloved. We can admire the art of John Updike or Philip Roth, but we love Vonnegut. — Michael Dirda

I have now and again tried to imagine the perfect environment, the ideal conditions for reading: A worn leather armchair on a rainy night? A hammock in a freshly mown backyard? A verandah overlooking the summer sea? Good choices, every one. But I have no doubt that they are all merely displacements, sentimental attempts to replicate the warmth and snugness of my mother's lap. — Michael Dirda

I am shocked that we seemed to have learned nothing, absolutely nothing, from Vietnam. — Michael Dirda

Whatever Kurt Vonnegut's ultimate status will be in the annals of literature, he was important to a lot of people right now. That's what most writers really care about. — Michael Dirda

Life Lessons by Michael Dirda

1. Michael Dirda's work emphasizes the importance of reading widely and deeply in order to gain a greater understanding of literature and culture.
2. He encourages readers to explore the connections between literature and other forms of art, as well as between literature and the world around us.
3. Dirda also stresses the importance of engaging with literature in a meaningful way, and of considering how literature can shape and inform our lives.