Why I copy quotes from what I read

 "Writing is, in short, the most perfect and passionate way of reading, which is doubtless why adolescents, who usually have more time on their hands, often take the trouble to write out a poem they really love: rewriting is not only a way of appropriating a text, of adopting and endorsing it; it's also the best, most exact, most alert, most certain way of reading it."

"My Favorite Book"
by Javiar Marias
translated by Margaret Jull Costa

The Threepenny Review
Fall 09 Issue, page 15