A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men. A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.

　　Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they have each for a book ―― just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb, “Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:“Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.

　　“Books,” said Hazlitt,“wind into the heart; the poet's verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be had very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books.”

　　A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man's life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters. “They are never alone,” said Sir Philip Sidney,“that are accompanied by noble thoughts.”

　　The good and true thought may in times of temptation be as an angel of mercy purifying and guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for good words almost always inspire to good works.

　　Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author's minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.

　　Books introduce us into the best society they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.

　　The great and good do not die even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The imperial intellects of the world are as much alive now as they were ages ago.

主站蜘蛛池模板： 久热中文字幕在线精品免费 | 韩国19禁主播裸免费福利 | 国产在线视频精品视频免费看 | 国内国外精品一区二区 | 欧美成a人免费观看久久 | 波多久久夜色精品国产 | 久久精品国产91久久综合麻豆自制 | 国产成人午夜性a一级毛片 国产成人午夜性视频影院 国产成人香蕉久久久久 | 男人天堂网站在线 | 福利片成人午夜在线 | 久久综合亚洲一区二区三区 | 草草在线影院 | 国内精品久久久久久影院8f | 狠狠综合久久久综合 | 国产精品一区二区综合 | 精品国产网站 | 草草影院私人免费入口 | 99国产精品农村一级毛片 | 精品在线99| 中文字幕亚洲精品第一区 | 日本免费二区三区久久 | 欧美一区二区精品系列在线观看 | 日本丶国产丶欧美色综合 | 成人国产午夜在线视频 | 国产午夜小视频 | 国产综合在线观看视频 | 成年人视频在线免费 | 欧美多人三级级视频播放 | 亚洲91| 国产伦理久久精品久久久久 | 亚洲精品美女视频 | 国产午夜毛片一区二区三区 | 热99re久久精品香蕉 | 拍拍拍又黄又爽无挡视频免费 | 国产欧美日韩视频在线观看一区二区 | 一区二区不卡在线 | 久久久久亚洲精品影视 | 国产亚洲精品一区二区久久 | 午夜亚洲国产成人不卡在线 | 日韩区在线 | 男人的天堂久久精品激情 |