The Value of Reading Books

Through books you can know the majesty of great poetry, the wisdom of the philosophers, the findings of the scientists, and through your imagination encompass world history.  An unknown author said, "Anyone who says they have but one life to live must not know how to read a book!" Unlimited horizons of knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration are contained in books that will enlarge your life.  Through books you can start today where the great thinkers of yesterday left off, because books have immortalized man's knowledge.  Thinkers, dead a thousand years ago, are as alive in their books today as when they walked the earth. We may have new technology and different living conditions in the 21st century, but we have the same energy flowing in our bodies as flowed in theirs.  They struggled with a lot of the same questions we do today:  who am I? where did I come from? where am I going? and how can I help?   Wayne Dyer wrote a book called Wisdom of the Ages in 1991.  His premise is that we build on previous authors' ideas and concepts, and that through the wisdom of eminent teachers and spiritual leaders from our past, we can effect a deep inner spiritual change in our world.  Science tells us that social connections make us happier and healthier, but there are diffferent kinds of social connections.  Reading, for instance, can be a deeply social act, putting you inside other people's minds. Writer Marcel Proust called reading "that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude."  Studies suggest that reading makes people more empathetic and improves social skills by helping us better understand our fellow humans.  Read to  increase your knowledge, your background, your awareness, and your insight; read to grow and become wise.  Books may have competition in the world today, but they will always have their place.