A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.
Master those books you have. Read them thoroughly. Bathe in them until they saturate you. Read and reread themā¦digest them. Let them go into your very self. Peruse a good book several times and make notes and analyses of it. A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books he has merely skimmed. Little learning and much pride comes from hasty reading. Some men are disabled from thinking by their putting meditation away for the sake of much reading. In reading let your motto be āmuch not many.
Donāt you ever reread a book you liked?ā Once the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them; there were plenty of people who didnāt read for pleasure, let alone reread. But Tom smiled and shook his head. āI used to, when I was a tyke. But how can you read a book youāve already read when you know there are all those other ones out there?ā āAn excellent argument, Mr. McLaury. I can only defend my position by saying that I use my old books as seasoning for the new onesāI sprinkle them lightly through my reading.
