Quotes of the Day: Walter Benjamin, "Unpacking My Library"

I think I will just quote from the master of quotes without commentary (or little commentary outside of this sentence), itself Walter Benjamin's ultimate goal, from his own "Unpacking My Library: A Talk about Book Collecting":

Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector's passion borders on the chaos of memories.

For what else is this collection but a disorder to which habit has accommodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order?

...the acquisition of an old book is its rebirth.

To a book collector, you see, the true freedom of all books is somewhere on his shelves.

Make your own order of my chaos of quotation, my poaching of words.