Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
| NUMBER: | 130 |
| AUTHOR: | Charles William Eliot (1834–1926) |
| QUOTATION: | Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Eliot, president of Harvard, 1869–1909, first read this before Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, but it was later rewritten. |
| SUBJECTS: | Books |