Reading opens windows to the wider world, and beyond.
“The book that’s too expensive is the book you don’t buy.”
I heard that once and it resonated. You never know what you’re missing in a book you don’t read.
Reading is a gift. I’m always grateful for the one or ones who taught me, long since nameless. Not that I’m so good at it. I tend to be terribly slow, lose concentration, forget eighty percent by the next day (or the same day), or fall asleep in the process. But for all that, what I do gain makes me more aware, slightly smarter, and a little bigger than I was before. I’m incrementally enlightened.
My life might be very small in comparison to all things, but reading expands my borders, exponentially.
It’s a gift we take for granted. Most of us don’t even do it much, what with all the other media that comes at us quicker and requiring less effort. But extra effort usually pays, in every field.
And in books you can find something about every field there is. Even a great deal about it.
As I see it, a book is generally written by someone who has thought more about a subject than I have, usually a lot more. So there’s a teacher-student relationship. But the learning is up to me; I can take it all in eagerly or put it down any time. All the knowledge I could ever want is all around me all the time. Reading is how I get it.
Not that all reading is for information or biography or history or inspiration or philosophy or self-help or how-to. Sometimes it’s just for the intrigue of story . . . the beauty of language, the transportation of thought and the sharing of minds . . . in fiction or non.
Whatever we read, we’re more for it.
It’s a gift.
And thanks for reading this. (I hope it helped.)
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
11:18 am
Hyatt….great! Did you read our January letter? You’ll love the story of our 101-year old dear friend Mary….she’s read 15 books since September. 👍…… So why is she so sharp? And how does she stay awake that long? And did she already read your blog? ☺️
3:36 pm
“We read to know we are not alone.”
C. S. Lewis
Thank you Hyatt for the great reminder.
Keep blogging my friend!
5:36 pm
Beautifully said Hyatt….I intend to share this with my bookclub. Thanks!
6:44 am
Love this! I too will be sharing with my book club. Favorite line: “I’m incrementally enlightened.” My 93 year old friend reads voraciously and always has (even as a devoted wife and mother of 7 children). She is smart as can be and a bright conversationalist. She recently read an article on how reading preserves those “little gray cells.” Thank you for your thought-provoking entries, Hyatt.
8:11 pm
Glad I tuned in today. Keep stoking the fires Hyatt. Amidst all the competition for our attention your blog proves to be a constant prodding to go down the paths that matter most. Thanks!