John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
10418 Appendix John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 10418 |
| AUTHOR: | Appendix |
| QUOTATION: | Beware of a man of one book. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | When St. Thomas Aquinas was asked in what manner a man might best become learned, he answered, “By reading one book.” The homo unius libri is indeed proverbially formidable to all conversational figurantes.—Robert Southey: The Doctor, p. 164. |