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Companionship of Books
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A man may usually be known by the books he reads
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as well as by the company he keeps;
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for there is a companionship of books as well as of men;
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and one should always live in the best company,
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whether it be of books or of men.
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A good book may be among the best of friends.
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It is the same today that it always was,
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and it will never change.
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It is the most patient and cheerful of companions.
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It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress.
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It always receives us with the same kindness,
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amusing and instructing us in youth,
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and comforting and consoling us in age.
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Books possess an essence of immortality.
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They are by far the most lasting products of human effort.
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Temples and statues decay, but books survive.
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Time is of no account with great thoughts,
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which are as fresh today
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as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago.
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What was them said and thought still speaks to us
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as vividly as ever from the printed page.
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The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products;
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for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.
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Books introduce us into the best society;
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they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived.
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We hear what they said and did;
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we see them as if they were really alive;
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we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them;
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their experience becomes ours,
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and we feel as if we were in measure actors with them
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in the scenes which they describe.
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The book is a living voice.
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It is an intellect to which one still listens.
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Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old.
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The greatest intellects of the world
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are as much alive now as they were ages ago.