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John Milton

“…but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit…”

John Milton, Areopagitica (1644)

Documented source

Attribution
John Milton
Source
John Milton, Areopagitica (1644)
In full
“…but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit…”
Status
Public domain in the United States

Every quote here is traced to a documented source. How we verify →

About this line

Areopagitica was Milton’s pamphlet to Parliament against licensing — the requirement that nothing be printed without government approval. This line is its beating heart: to kill a good book, he argues, is to spill the distilled life of the mind that made it.

Why we carry this line

Are you a book lover? If you are, no explanation necessary. Signed: another book lover.