Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary. Jim Rohn
If Knowledge is power, what is a lack of knowledge? This week is back-to-school week, and we are blessed to live in a time when most people have access to education. Some people are still out of their homes because of fires, and people have lost their homes to fires. It is a time of challenge for many, and our thoughts and prayers are with them as they navigate this difficult time.
Tomorrow, children and their parents will walk by our door to school. I remember excitedly waiting for the first day of school. Seeing friends I hadn’t seen over the summer and finding out who my teacher would be. It was an exciting time, and fall still fills me with a feeling that a new adventure should be around the corner.
Last week at Toastmasters, I became a mentor for a new member, and she told me her favorite author is Leo Tolstoy. I have to admit I’ve never read his novels. I bought Anna Karenina and will read it, and I’m on the lookout for a copy of War and Peace.
Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge: It is thinking that makes what we read ours. John Locke
One of the ways we gather knowledge is the books we read. It is lovely to go to a bookstore or library with an array of books to choose from. The world’s knowledge is at our fingertips, all those authors’ stories to read and to ponder. What would we do if we faced what the character faced?
If we read books that cause us to think our lives become rich. We can’t experience everything in life. Reading is a way of experiencing more of life, and through exploring ideas we will have more questions to ask. Dr. Seuss sums it up, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
What would it be like to live in a time when most people were illiterate? How barren would our life be if we couldn’t read?
Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. Francis Bacon
The book to read is not the one that thinks for you but the one which makes you think. Harper Lee
When I think of all the books still left for me to read, I am certain of further happiness. Jules Renard
Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
