I would never read a book if it were possible for me to talk half an hour with the man who wrote it.

The remark elevates direct conversation with an author over reading their work, suggesting that a living exchange can compress, clarify, and humanize ideas more efficiently than a text. It also implies skepticism about the mediation of print: books fix thoughts in a single form, while dialogue allows questions, challenges, and immediate tailoring to the listener’s needs. In Wilson’s case (a scholar and later a politician), the line can be read as valuing personal access, persuasion, and the give‑and‑take of discussion—skills central to teaching and public life. At the same time, it is knowingly paradoxical: the very sentiment is preserved only because it was written down.