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Books
Orison Swett Marden
Perhaps no other thing has such power to lift the poor out of his poverty, the wretched out of his misery, to make the burden-bearer forget his burden, the sick his suffering, the sorrow his grief, the oppressed his degradation, as books. They are friends to the lonely, companions to the deserted, joy to the joyless, hope to the hopeless, good cheer to the disheartened, a helper to the helpless. They bring light into darkness, and sunshine into shadow.
We may be poor, socially isolated, shut out from all personal association with the great and the good, and yet be in the best society in the world, in books. We may live in palaces, converse with princes, be familiar with royalty, and associate with the greatest and noblest of all time.
The trend of many a life for good or ill, for success or failure, has been determined by a single book. The books which we read early in life are those which influence us most.
The greatest advantage of books does not always come from what we remember of them, but from their suggestiveness. A good book often serves as a match to light the dormant power within us. There is explosive material enough in most of us if we can only reach it. A good book or a good friend often serves to wake up our latent possibilities. Books often excite thought in great writers, even upon entirely different subjects. We often find in books what we thought and felt, could we have expressed ourselves. Indeed, we get acquainted with ourselves in books. We discover one feature in Emerson, an expression in Homer, a glimpse of ourselves in Dante, and so on until we spell out our whole individuality. True, we get many pleasing reflections of ourselves from friends, many mirrored deformities from our enemies, and a characteristic here and there from the world; but in a calm and unbiased way we find the most of ourselves, our strength, our weakness, our breadth, our limitations, our opinions, our tastes, our harmonies and discords, our poetic and prosaic qualities, in books.
We form many of our opinions from our favorite books. The author whom we prefer is our most potent teacher; we look at the world through his eyes. If we habitually read books that are elevating in tone, pure in style, sound in reasoning, and keen in insight, our minds develop the same characteristics. If, on the contrary, we read weak or vicious books, our minds contract the faults and vices of the books. We cannot escape the influence of what we read any more than we can escape the influence of the air that we breathe.
The best books are those which stir us up most and make us the most determined to do something and be something ourselves. The best books are those which lift us to a higher plane where we breathe a purer atmosphere. As we should associate with people who can inspire us to nobler deeds, so we should only read those books which have an uplifting power, and which stir us to make the most of ourselves and our opportunities.
Emerson had three rules of reading: never read a book that is not a year old; never read any but famous books; never read a book you do not like.
Libraries are no longer a luxury, but a necessity. A home without books and periodicals and newspapers is like a house without windows. Children learn to read by being in the midst of books; they unconsciously absorb knowledge by handling them. No family can now afford to be without good reading.
Furnish your house with books rather than unnecessary furniture, bric-a-brac, or even pictures if you cannot afford all. One of the most incongruous sights in the world is an elegant house with costly furniture, paintings of the masters, costly carpets, and yet with scarcely, a standard work in the library.
Wear threadbare clothes and patched shoes if necessary, but do not pinch or economize on books. If you cannot give your children an academic education, you can place within their reach a few good books which will lift them above their surroundings, into respectability and honour. A college education, or its equivalent, and more is possible to the poorest boy or girl who has access to the necessary books.
“No entertainment is so cheap as reading,” says Mary Wortley Montagu, “ nor any pleasure so lasting.” Good books elevate the character, purify the taste, take the attractiveness out of low pleasures, and lift us upon a higher plane of thinking and living. It is not easy to be mean directly after reading a noble and inspiring book. The conversation of a man who reads for improvement or pleasure will be flavored by his reading; but it will not be about his reading.
Whatever you read, read with enthusiasm, with energy, read with the whole mind, if you would increase your mental stature. Learn to absorb the mental and the moral life of a book, and assimilate it into your life. He is the best reader who consumes the most knowledge and converts it into character. Mechanical readers remember words, the husks of things, but digest nothing. They cram their brains but starve their minds. If you are getting the most out of a book, you will feel a capacity for doing things which you never felt before.
