When you re-read a classic you do not see in the book more than you did before. You see more in you than there was before.

The quote argues that rereading a classic is a kind of self-assessment. Because the book remains essentially the same, any “new” meanings you perceive arise from changes in your experience, knowledge, and sensibility. A classic, on this view, functions like a mirror: it reflects different aspects of the reader at different stages of life. The line also implies a criterion for “classic” status—texts rich enough to sustain multiple encounters without being exhausted. Fadiman’s emphasis shifts literary value from novelty to depth, suggesting that the most important discoveries in reading are often discoveries about the reader.