I have always noticed that the men who accumulate great libraries do not know much, and the men who know a great deal have very few books.

Now I will wager that you have not a thousand volumes in your house, Mr.Ambrose." "Five hundred would be nearer the mark," said the vicar.
"The fewer one has the nearer one approaches to Aquinas's _homo unius libri_," returned the squire.

"You are nine thousand five hundred degrees nearer to ideal wisdom than I am." Mr.Ambrose laughed.
"Nevertheless," he said, "you may be sure that if you give me leave to use your books, I will take advantage of the permission.

It is in writing sermons that one feels the want of a good library." "I should think it would be an awful bore to write sermons," remarked the squire with such perfect innocence that both the vicar and Mrs.Goddard laughed loudly.

But Mrs.Ambrose eyed Mr.Juxon with renewed severity.
"I should fancy it would be a much greater bore, as you call it, to the congregation if my husband never wrote any new ones," she said stiffly.
Whereat the squire looked rather puzzled, and coloured a little.