LINES from a
once-censored novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde have
been listed among the 'Most Highlighted Passages of
All Time' by Kindle users.
Several thought-provoking passages from 'The Picture
of Dorian Gray' have made it on to the e-book
readers' list of favourite lines.
The most highlighted passage from Wilde's Gothic
tale is: "I choose my friends for their good looks,
my acquaintances for their good characters, and my
enemies for their good intellects". The line has
been highlighted 4,771 times to date by Kindle
readers and makes it to number 25 on the list.
Another line from Wilde's 19th century novel -
"Those who are faithful know only the trivial side
of love: it is the faithless who know love's
tragedies" - has been highlighted 4,189 times and
features at number 37 on the list. ‘The Picture of
Dorian Gray’ – which tells of a young man’s descent
into a life of debauchery - also takes 26th place on
Kindle’s list of ‘Most Highlighted Books of All
Time’.
‘The Holy Bible’ is Kindle’s most highlighted book
of all time.
Kindle readers use a simple mechanism on their
device or Kindle App to highlight
book passages that are meaningful to them. Millions
of passages are highlighted every month, according
to Amazon figures. Readers will often notice these
passages underlined with a faint squiggle.
The most-highlighted Kindle passages are from 'The
Hunger Games' novel and its two sequels ‘Catching
Fire’ and ‘Mockingjay’ by Suzanne Collins. Indeed,
eight of the 10 most-highlighted passages are from
Collins' trilogy. The other two are from the Jane
Austen classic 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Top of the most highlighted list is the line from
Collins' 'Catching Fire' - "Because sometimes things
happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal
with them". It has to date garnered 17,784 Kindle
highlights.
The 'Mockingjay’ line 'It takes ten times as long to
put yourself back together as it does to fall
apart", was highlighted by 8,833 Kindle users.
Kindle’s most highlighted lists are “based on a
combination of number of highlighting customers and
number of highlights”, Amazon says.
Many of the most popular paragraphs are taken from
best-selling self-help books but many readers also
turn to the classics for inspiration.
Readers’ second most highlighted passage is from
'Pride & Prejudice': "It is a truth universally
acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a
good fortune, must be in want of a wife".
Other most highlighted passages:
"I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as
radiant as the sun." 'The Hunger Games', highlighted
by 7,519 Kindle users.
"Nowadays people know the price of everything and
the value of nothing." 'The Picture of Dorian Gray',
highlighted by 4,044 Kindle users.
“Management is doing things right; leadership is
doing the right things." from 'The 7 Habits of
Highly Effective People', highlighted by 4,106
Kindle users.
"Pretend to be completely in control and people will
assume that you are." 'Steve Jobs', highlighted by
3,886 Kindle users.
"There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame
ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to
blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that
gives us absolution." 'The Picture of Dorian Gray',
highlighted by 3,506 Kindle users. |
