Quote#Books & Reading
Authors have a greater right than any copyright, though it is…
Quote byHenry Wadsworth Longfellow · 1807–1882
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Table-Talk (1857).
English (original)
Authors have a greater right than any copyright, though it is generally unacknowledged or disregarded. They have a right to the reader's civility. There are favorable hours for reading a book, as for writing it, and to these the author has a claim. Yet many people think that when they buy a book they buy with it the right to abuse the author.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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