The Count of Monte Cristo

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"But for such a work you must have needed books--had you any?"

"I had nearly five thousand volumes in my library at Rome; but after
reading them over many times, I found out that with one hundred and
fifty well-chosen books a man possesses, if not a complete summary of
all human knowledge, at least all that a man need really know. I devoted
three years of my life to reading and studying these one hundred and
fifty volumes, till I knew them nearly by heart; so that since I have
been in prison, a very slight effort of memory has enabled me to recall
their contents as readily as though the pages were open before me. I
could recite you the whole of Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch, Titus
Livius, Tacitus, Strada, Jornandes, Dante, Montaigne, Shakespeare,
Spinoza, Machiavelli, and Bossuet. I name only the most important."

"You are, doubtless, acquainted with a variety of languages, so as to
have been able to read all these?"