Books have led some to learning and others to madness.
Interpretation
Books can inspire knowledge or lead to obsession.
This quote from Petrarch illustrates the dual nature of books and reading. On one hand, they can be a source of immense learning and enlightenment, opening the minds of readers to new ideas and knowledge; on the other hand, they can also consume individuals, leading them to obsessive thoughts or madness if they become too engrossed or lose touch with reality through their readings.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of literature, one might quote Petrarch to illustrate the profound impact of reading.
Gold, silver, jewels, purple garments, houses built of marble, groomed estates, pious paintings, caparisoned steeds, and other things of this kind offer a mutable and superficial pleasure; books give delight to the very marrow of one's bones. They speak to us, consult with us, and join with us in a living and intense intimacy.
Five enemies of peace inhabit with us - avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride; if these were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.
Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together.
To begin with myself, then, the utterances of men concerning me will differ widely, since in passing judgment almost every one is influenced not so much by truth as by preference, and good and evil report alike know no bounds.
True, we love life, not because we are used to living, but because we are used to loving. There is always some madness in love, but there is also always some reason in madness.
I looked back at the summit of the mountain, which seemed but a cubit high in comparison with the height of human contemplation, were in not too often merged in the corruptions of the earth.
I did not clip the wings of my daughter to fly.
I think in YA there's sometimes a temptation to create heroines who are infinitely resilient and wise and confident because those are the behaviors we want to see teens embrace and maybe we want to see those things in ourselves.
To ask the proper question is half of knowing.
It's never enough to just tell people about some new insight. Rather, you have to get them to experience it a way that evokes its power and possibility. Instead of pouring knowledge into people's heads, you need to help them grind anew set of eyeglasses so they can see the world in a new way.
I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.
I had no education whatsoever, and my mother said, 'Oh, you'll get a much better education in life.' I did to some extent, though I always wish I could have tried it.
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