"The society of dead authors has this advantage over that of the living: they never flatter us to our faces, nor slander us behind our backs, nor intrude upon our privacy, nor quit their shelves until we take them down"

This quote by Charles Caleb Colton speaks with the concept that the society of dead authors has a certain advantage over the society of living authors. He suggests that the dead authors never flatter us to our faces, nor slander us behind our backs, nor intrude upon our personal privacy. To put it simply, the dead authors are not able to affect us in the very same way that living authors can. Furthermore, the dead authors will remain on their racks till we take them down, meaning that we have total control over when and how we communicate with them. This quote speaks to the idea that the dead authors are a more trustworthy source of details and understanding than the living authors, as they are not able to manipulate us in the very same method.