I'm obviously fascinated by books. That's why I absolutely love this quote which I just ran across in a Teaching Company lecture. It quotes the famous early-Renaissance writer Petrarch on his attitude toward books:"Books are welcome, assiduous companions, always ready to appear in public or to go back in their box at your command, always disposed to speak or to be silent, to stay at home or to make a visit to the woods, to travel or to abide in the country; to gossip, joke, encourage you, comfort you, advise you, reprove you, and take care of you; to teach you the world's secrets, the records of great deeds, the rules of life and the scorn of death, moderation in good fortune, fortitude in ill, calmness and constancy in behavior. These are learned, happy, useful and ready spoken companions who will never bring you tedium, expense, lamentations, jealous murmurs, or deception."
I couldn't agree more.
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