A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; forthere is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the bestcompany, whether it be of books or of men. A good book may be among the best of friends. Itis the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient andcheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress.Italways receives us with the same kindness, amusing and instructing us in youth, andcomforting and consoling us in age. Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by farthe most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but bookssurvive.Time is of no account with great thoughts,which are as fresh today as when they firstpassed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was them said and thought still speaks tous as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the badproducts; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good. Books introduce usinto the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have everlived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathizewith them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel asif we were in measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe. The book is a livingvoice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence ofthe great men of old. The greatest intellects of the world are as much alive now as they wereages ago.
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