Knowledge is like money: to be of value it must circulate, and in circulating it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value.
Louis L'AmourRead
Books are the building blocks of civilization and a people without books are a people without history, a people with no story older than the tales of the oldest man or woman.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Books are essential for the development and continuity of civilization and culture.
This quote emphasizes the critical role that books play in shaping civilization and preserving history. It suggests that without access to literature, a society lacks the depth and continuity of its past narratives, reducing its collective memory to mere oral traditions and limits its understanding of who they are as a people.
Themes
BooksCivilizationHistoryCultureStorytelling
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the importance of literature in shaping society.
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Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.
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If you wait for inspiration, you're not a writer, but a waiter.
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Books are the perfect Time Machine. By the simple act of opening a book you can, in an instant, be travelling up a jungle river without once being bitten by mosquitoes, or you can almost die of thirst in the desert while holding a cold drink in your hand, or dine in the finest restaurants and never have to worry about paying the bill, or ride the wild country of our western frontier and never worry about losing your scalp to a raiding party.
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Adventure is just a romantic name for trouble. It sounds swell when you write about it, but it's hell when you meet it face to face in a dark and lonely place.
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People need to know more than what a piece of information means. They also need to know how the information matters.
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