“A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.”-Abraham Lincoln
As I began to do some research while brainstorming for my third portfolio, I came across this website that is filled with quotes on the importance of reading. A few that stuck out to me are:
“We read to know we are not alone.” – C.S. Lewis
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass
“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”- Victor Hugo
“I divide all readers into two classes: Those who read to remember and those who read to forget.”- William Phelps
These quotes certainly point to the impressive power of language in society (any society). Lincoln’s and Douglass’s are the most clear example in my opinion. Also, Phelps has just given me a wonderful meme by equating reading to drinking: “confound these ponies, they drive me to read!”
Those are all great quotes. I feel like there are always radical stories about how future generations are reading less and less and playing video games more. I hope that my childhood authors, such as CS Lewis, continue to enhance children’s lives and imagination. Even in a future that possibly includes more ebooks than print books.
Reading is of timeless importance which is what these quotes show. All these people are different and from different times but regardless it’s important for everyone to read. It’s universal and will never change.
These are great quotes! I also like the quote about books from John Milton that we copied at the Printmaking Institute: “For books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them.” Reading and books are timeless treasures.