How important are books in our lives?
How beneficial is reading for the human mind and spirit?
Today, on the World Day of the Book and Copyright, let's reflect on these two questions.
As far as I am concerned, the book has been my companion all my life. Since I began to read consciously, books have always been part of me. There will always be a book in my backpack and it will be with me wherever I go. If I don't have a book in my backpack, I feel I'm missing something very important.
For me, books are not just collections of words, but vehicles for unique journeys beyond our everyday experiences. They have the power to transport me to other worlds, introduce me to new ideas and challenge my perceptions.
I am not going to dwell now on the importance of books and reading in our lives, but I am going to let some of the brightest minds of humanity speak and share some sayings about books and reading.
**Here are some quotes that profoundly capture the importance of reading: **
“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” - Ernest Hemingway
“I would sooner have a garden and a library than a palace.” - Cicero
"A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors." - Charles Baudelaire
"Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled 'This could change your life.'" - Helen Exley
"The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries." - René Descartes
“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” ― Mark Twain
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” - George R.R. Martin
"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame." - Oscar Wilde
“Books have immortalized great minds. Books have kept ancients secrets alive. A world which least value books, least value the real essence of wisdom and least know how to preserve what is precious!” - Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
“I declare after all these years that I have never known a satisfaction which has made me feel more truly alive.” - Virginia Woolf
“You don't have to burn books to destroy a people. Just get them to stop reading.” - Ray Bradbury
“That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.” - J.R.R. Tolkien
“The only reason for time is so we can have enough of it to read all the books we want to read.” - Stephen King
"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking." - Haruki Murakami.