Becoming a reader grows our horizons, our appetite for the good, the true and the beautiful, and our empathy.
Interpretation
Reading expands our understanding and fosters empathy towards others.
In this quote, Ben Sasse emphasizes the transformative power of reading. He suggests that engaging with literature not only broadens our perspectives but also enhances our appreciation for goodness, truth, beauty, and the ability to empathize with others, ultimately enriching our lives and society as a whole.
In practice
Use this quote during a school assembly to encourage students to read more.
Among the responsibilities of each citizen in a participatory democracy is keeping ourselves sufficiently informed so that we can participate effectively, argue our positions honorably, and hopefully, forge sufficient consensus to understand each other and then to govern.
The health of our republic depends on shared principles like the First Amendment, but it is also built on the Teddy Roosevelt-like vigor of its citizens and local self-reliance.
Being stuck in adolescence - that's a hell. 'Peter Pan' is a dystopia, and we forget that. Neverland is a bad place to be.
Rising political tribalism, shamelessly exaggerating our opponents' claims or behavior, is leaving us vulnerable: No one loves America's internal fighting - and our increasingly siloed news consumption - more than Vladimir Putin.
Good history is good story-telling. And good story-telling demands empathy; it requires understanding different actors, differing motivations, competing goals.
I don't think that our Founders would believe that America could long prosper if the people were not readers.
The idea that children are passive repositories to be shaped by their parents has been massively overstated. A child's peer group is a far greater determinant of its development and achievements than parental aspiration.
Children are more influenced by sermons you act than by sermons you preach.
Present-day Spain translates as many books into Spanish, annually, as the Arab world has translated into Arabic in the past 1,100 years.
America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce in the world.
No matter how long you play the guitar, there's always something else to learn.
A book, like a landscape, is a state of consciousness varying with readers.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.