About this quote

Salinger turns a personal contradiction into a small, clear joke about labels and habits. You can feel insecure about a skill and still spend hours doing it. Ask yourself: are you holding back because a label scares you or because you actually avoid the work? If you enjoy something, do it — practicing it matters more than the title you give yourself.

When to use it

• Job interview: when the recruiter asks about formal qualifications and you want to explain you're self-taught, you smile and say, "I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot."
• College study group: before presenting a paper, you admit to classmates, "I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot," to defuse your nerves about writing skills.
• Parenting moment: while teaching your child to read, you laugh and tell your partner, "I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot," to make light of your imperfections.
• Hobby club: at a chess meetup when asked about training, you shrug and say, "I'm quite illiterate, but I read a lot," meaning you learn by watching many games rather than formal study.