Thursday, November 30, 2023

Uniquely Magic

Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
Stephen King

I'm not saying that you have to be a reader
to save your soul in the modern world.
I'm saying it helps
.”

~ Walter Mosely ~
[Thanks Chris Jarmick]

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"I consider reading the greatest bargain in the world. A shelf of books is a shelf of many lives and ideas and imaginations which readers can enjoy whenever they wish and as often as they wish. Instead of experiencing just one life, book-lovers can experience hundreds or even thousands of lives. They can live any kind of adventure in the world. Books are their time machine into the past and also into the future. Books are their "transporter" by which they can beam instantly to any part of the universe and explore what they find there. Books are an instrument by which they can become any person for a while — a man, a woman, a child, a general, a farmer, a detective, a king, a doctor, anyone.

"Great books are especially valuable because a great book often contains within its covers the wisdom of a man or woman's whole lifetime. But the true lover of books enjoys all kinds of books, even some nonsense now and then, because enjoying nonsense from others can teach us to also laugh at ourselves. A person who does not learn to laugh at their own problems and weaknesses and foolishness can never be a truly educated or a truly happy person. Also, probably the same thing could be said of a person who does not enjoy learning and growing all their life."
[pronouns adjusted for inclusivity]
~ Gene Roddenberry ~
from Letters to Star Trek
[Thanks Lynn Zentner]

*****************

Allowed to read during church
-- those lucky kids!
See also:
Power of Reading