Umberto Eco

"You must overcome any shyness and have a conversation with the librarian, because he can offer you reliable advice that will save you much time. You must consider that the librarian (if not overworked or neurotic) is happy when he can demonstrate two things: the quality of his memory and erudition and the richness of his library, especially if it is small. The more isolated and disregarded the library, the more the librarian is consumed with sorrow for its underestimation. A person who asks for help makes the librarian happy."

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Source: Umberto Eco (1994). “The Name of the Rose”, p.549, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

About the author

Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco

Writer, Philosopher, Literary Critic

Umberto Eco was an Italian novelist and philosopher, renowned for his work 'The Name of the Rose' and his explorations of semiotics and interpretation.

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