The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.

Bryce’s aphorism treats reading as an active, selective process: a book’s value is not its size, rarity, or reputation, but the durable insight, skill, or moral enlargement a reader retains after closing it. The phrase “carry away” suggests portability and internalization—what becomes part of one’s memory, judgment, and conduct. It also implies a critique of merely performative or acquisitive book culture (owning, citing, or admiring books without being changed by them). In a broader humanistic sense, the line aligns with an educational ideal that measures learning by assimilation and use rather than by exposure alone.