A great book is a great evil

Cf. [Callimachus Fragments 465 (Pfeiffer)] ṯὸ μέγα βίβλίον ἴσον‥ɛἷναί ṯῷ μɛγάλῳκακῷ, the great book is equal to a great evil.

Oftentimes it falls out‥a great Booke is a great mischiefe.
[1628 Burton Anatomy of Melancholy (ed. 3) 7]

We do not expect to meet with any thing in a bulky Volume. ‥A great Book is a great Evil.
[1711 Addison Spectator 23 July]

If there is any truth in the old Greek maxim that a large book is a great evil, English dictionaries have been steadily growing worse ever since their inception more than three centuries ago.
[1933 Oxford English Dictionary (Preface) p. vii.]

Related to: brevity and long-windedness

Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.