People who don't read books become, over a period of time, less open to other's ideas, let alone come up with new ideas themselves.
- From a question on Linkedin
A paradox of other people's books is that they often tell us more about our own life than we have been able to grasp alone. It is in the words on someone else's page that return us to a more vivid sense of who we are, and what our world is like.
- Alain de Botton
On Seeing and Noticing
Good writing has the ability to make us feel things we may not otherwise be in a position to feel, and because of that we are fuller, richer human beings.
It has the power to convey profound truths without us having to experience them for ourselves.
- From a blogpost, A rant about the power of compelling writing
- Sometimes it reminds us that we aren’t alone in what we think.
- Other times it exposes us to unfamiliar ways of thinking.
- But reading is not just about thinking; it's also about feeling.
- And don't forget, the written language contains metaphors and other literary devices, making reading intrinsically entertaining.
