OF READING AND READERS AND THE MORE REASONS TO READ MORE
An evening reflection by udems
Mark Twain once observed that any person who would not
read has no advantage over a person who cannot read. I agree with him, and I need
to add that just as good as reading is the art of reading everything; if one can
read everything, one can learn anything about everything and everything about
anything. Besides, as S.I. Hayakawa puts it,
it is not true that we have only one life to live;
if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we
wish. Moreover, one is forever free when once one has learnt to read.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body, says Richard Steele. One
who has learnt to read is born again, because that one would never be quite so
alone again, a reason for C. S. Lewis` declaration that “we read to know we
are not alone.” He who loves reading has got everything within his reach. This
is why one ought to listen to Karen Witemeyer`s
wise counsel to "read everything you can get your hands on. Read until words
become your friends. Then when you need to find one, they will jump into your
mind, waving their hands for you to pick them. And you can select whichever you
like, just like a captain choosing a stickball team.” No wonder, it is said (per
William Godwin) that he who loves reading has everything within his reach,
leading William Faulkner to exclaim thus, “Read, read, read!” Whenever you read a good book,
somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. Groucho Marx
has suggested that “outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend,.” to learn to read is to
light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark. I have
prayed that even the house of paradise should be a kind of library; this is the only way
to make it blissful and ecstatic, because, as Heinrich Mann
once observed, a house without books is like a room without windows.
Respectfully,
Sylvester Udemezue (udems)
08109024556
udemsylgmail.com
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