Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, said this about home
libraries: "It’s foolish to think you have to read all the books you buy.
It would be like saying you should use all the cutlery or glasses or
screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. There are things
in life we need to have plenty of, even if we only use a small portion. If, for
example, we consider books as medicine, we understand it’s good to have many at
home rather than a few. When you want to feel better, you go to the 'medicine
closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for this
moment. You should always have a choice! Those who buy only one book, read it
and get rid of it; they simply apply the consumer mentality to books. Those who
love books know a book is anything but a commodity."
No comments:
Post a Comment