Hanagarne Quotes

#1. Josh Hanagarne has an astonishing story to tell, and he does so with insight, humor, grace, and wonder. All human beings suffer and struggle. Through the lens of his own miraculous experiences, Mr. Hanagarne illuminates the path to joy and the infinite possibilities of transcendence.

Melanie Rae Thon

#2. I smiled at these books every time I saw them on my shelves. In many ways I sill feel like an incomplete person, but at least I had those books; I was more complete than anyone unlucky enough not to have them.

Josh Hanagarne

#3. There is a great case to be made for using religion to win arguments, as long as you only debate with other believers.

Josh Hanagarne

#4. From The World's Strongest Librarian who quotes Tom Clancy: The only way to do all the things you'd like to is to read.

Josh Hanagarne

#5. A mind can be lost without its owner's death. A mind that no longer questions only fulfills the rudimentary aspects of its function.

Josh Hanagarne

#6. Josh, do you know what my favorite thing is? she asked. I mean, my very favorite thing?
I'm not sure.
It's when the whole family comes for a holiday and you kids just sit around and laugh together. You don't have any idea what that feels like for me. There's nothing I look forward to more.

Josh Hanagarne

#7. I'm rarely at a loss for words outside the library. But within its walls I'm required to form sentences that no logical person should ever have to utter, for instance, You can't sleep on the floor at the library under your blanket.

Josh Hanagarne

#8. A library is a miracle. A place where you can learn just about anything, for free. A place where your mind can come alive.

Josh Hanagarne

#9. Test everything that can be tested. As soon as you think you know something, that's when you stop questioning it. Understanding kills curiosity. Understanding kills progress.

Josh Hanagarne

#10. You can repent of most sins by making restitution, but you can't bring a dead body back to life, and you can't restore your virginity. We are made in God's image, and God is no fornicator.

Josh Hanagarne

#11. For Orwell, the loss of a life was the loss of a mind was the loss of a world, and the world we inhabit is poorer for each loss, for the contributions that mind could have made.

Josh Hanagarne

#12. Andi was forbidden fruit, and even if she wasn't, there was no way a pure country bumpkin like her could handle a self-confessed pussy pounding warrior like me.

Kirsty Dallas

#13. Love.

Yeah.

Fuck him.

Jennifer Kacey

#14. When someone makes a Family Circus reference and everyone on the room laughs, I'm in the wrong room.

Josh Hanagarne

#15. My books may highlight corruption, brutality and venality, but they also show that if these things come to light, there is rectification. The voiceless do have a voice; democratic mechanisms and accountability do exist.

Vikas Swarup

#16. When I was his age, and even today, when it comes to books and libraries, too much is never enough

Josh Hanagarne

#17. Even when I interviewed bands, it was about asking them about writing songs, so it was more for me than anybody else.

Benjamin Booker

#18. What does it mean when nightmares dream of peace? When shadows wish for light?

Melissa Marr

#19. A community that doesn't think it needs a library isn't a community for whom a library is irrelevant. It's a community that's ill.

Josh Hanagarne

#20. When a tongue fails to send forth appropriate shafts, there might be a word to act as healer of these.

Aeschylus

#21. At its loftiest, a library's goal is to keep as many minds as possible in the game ...

Josh Hanagarne

#22. The word 'yes' is just a sound. It's nothing without context. It can signal the end of a life, an exultation after a scored basket or a vanquished foe; it can answer questions or refute them; it's an affirmation.

Josh Hanagarne

#23. To see the value of a library, ignore the adults. Find an inquisitive child who doesn't have an iPhone yet, take them to the library, and tell them that they can learn anything they want there.

Josh Hanagarne

#24. Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn

Orson Welles

#25. The library has a robust collection of what I call non-cuddly hate lit. This is one of my favorite things about working here: If you believe censorship is poison, here lies paradise.

Josh Hanagarne

#26. In medieval times most singers, dancers, and musical performers were, at least in origin, slaves.

Bernard Lewis

#27. I don't like drugs. I think cocaine is a very bad, habit-forming bore. It's about the most boring drug ever invented.

Mick Jagger

#28. The public library contains multitudes. And each person who visits contains multitudes as well. Each of us is a library of thoughts, memories, experiences, and odors. We adapt to one another to produce the human condition.

Josh Hanagarne

#29. I can do anything I want, I'm eccentric!

John Cleese

#30. An old librarian once said to me, whatever we deal with, coming here is always a visual reward.

Josh Hanagarne