I just read books.
Robert Redford's character in Three Days of the Condor said those words at least twice in the film. Once, quite enthusiastically, when he called "the office" to tell them that his colleagues had all been killed. He later tried to explain his job to Faye Dunaway's character.
Spoilers if you haven't seen the film or read the book.
The poor guy comes back with lunch for everyone and finds them all gunned down. Sure, he works for the CIA, but as he tells his contact, "I'm not a field agent. I just read books." He'd rather not have to concern himself with code names, secret procedures, or weapons. He just wants to not be shot like the rest of the team was.
He decides that he may have to take responsibility for his own survival. He gets help from a photographer he meets and tries to explain to her that his job involves reading "everything that's published" to look for any kind of valuable intelligence information. As he tells her, "I work for the CIA, but I am not a spy. I just read books."
In the game of international intrigue, he doesn't consider himself to be important. He doesn't travel overseas, listen in on phone conversations, track anyone's movements, or slip poison into cocktails. He simply gathers information. He doesn't play any big role in the big picture. As the movie continues, we find that he read something more valuable than he realized.
You never know what you'll discover when you're reading. Authors can lead you far away in space and time. If you let yourself, you may be introduced to all sorts of new people, places, and things. Unfamiliar behaviors or feelings may be set before you. Books might make you really ponder, or they may let you escape. There is no limit on what the words can offer.
I am also not a field agent or a spy.
I am not just an elf, a princess, a space traveler, or a consulting detective.
I am all of these things. And more. Because I don't just read books.
I read books!
