Umberto Eco on why one should keep more books at home than one can read

It is foolish to think that you must read every book you buy. It is equally foolish to criticise those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. That is like saying that you must use every piece of cutlery, every glass, every screwdriver or drill bit you have bought before you are allowed to buy new ones.

There are things in life of which we must always have enough, even if we shall use only a small part of them. If, for example, we regard books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many books at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, you go to the "medicine cabinet" and choose a book. Not a random one, but the book that suits that particular moment. That is why you must always have a choice!

Those who buy only one book, read only that, and then get rid of it are simply applying a consumer mentality to books, that is, treating them as a consumer product, a commodity. But those who love books know that a book is not a commodity at all.

Umberto Eco, whose library numbers more than 50,000 volumes, on keeping books