On Reading

But, granting that we had both the will and the sense to choose our friends well, how few of us have the power! or, at least, how limited, for most, is the sphere of choice!  Nearly all our associations are determined by chance or necessity; and restricted within a narrow circle.  We cannot know whom we would; and those whom we know, we cannot have at our side when we most need them.  All the higher circles of human intelligence are, to those beneath, only momentarily and partially open.  We may, by good fortune, obtain a glimpse of a great poet, and hear the sound of his voice; or put a question to a man of science, and be answered good-humouredly.  We may intrude ten minutes’ talk on a cabinet minister, answered probably with words worse than silence, being deceptive; or snatch, once or twice in our lives, the privilege of throwing a bouquet in the path of a princess, or arresting the kind glance of a queen.  And yet these momentary chances we covet; and spend our years, and passions, and powers, in pursuit of little more than these; while, meantime, there is a society continually open to us, of people who will talk to us as long as we like, whatever our rank or occupation;—talk to us in the best words they can choose, and of the things nearest their hearts.  And this society, because it is so numerous and so gentle, and can be kept waiting round us all day long,—kings and statesmen lingering patiently, not to grant audience, but to gain it!—in those plainly furnished and narrow ante-rooms, our bookcase shelves,—we make no account of that company,—perhaps never listen to a word they would say, all day long!

— John Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies (1865)

I can completely resonate with this beautiful explanation by John Ruskin on reading books. How often do we actually choose our friends purely by choice? And—not to condemn anyone or any friendship—but how many of us have a friend who is smarter, wiser, and more eloquent than Victor Hugo (just as an example)?

Yet, we lose ourselves in the daily waves of thoughts and circumstances instead of setting aside time to have meaningful conversations with these noble human beings through their books. Books—those finely tuned, life-changing lessons of wisdom—are our true friends, offering us conversations as long as we wish, regardless of our status or occupation, in the best words their authors could choose, and on the subjects closest to their hearts.