Standards are always out of date. That's what makes them standards.
Alan BennettRead
Books are not about passing time. They're about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, one just wishes one had more of it. If one wanted to pass the time one could go to New Zealand.
Interpretation
Books allow us to experience diverse lives and worlds, highlighting the richness of literature beyond mere entertainment.
In this quote, Alan Bennett emphasizes that reading is not simply a means to occupy our time; rather, it immerses us in the experiences and perspectives of others. He suggests that books transport us to different realities and that true readers often wish for more time to explore these narratives, contrasting this with mundane pastimes that simply make time go by, like visiting New Zealand.
In practice
In a book club discussion about the significance of reading.
Standards are always out of date. That's what makes them standards.
To begin with, it's true, she read with trepidation and some unease. The sheer endlessness of books outfaced her and she had no idea how to go on; there was no system to her reading, with one book leading to another, and often she had two or three on the go at the same time.
A book is a device to ignite the imagination.
Those who have known the famous are publicly debriefed of their memories, knowing as their own dusk falls that they will only be remembered for remembering someone else.
To read is to withdraw.To make oneself unavailable. One would feel easier about it if the pursuit inself were less...selfish.
The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours
A lot of parents today are terrified that something they say to their children might make them 'feel bad.' But, hey, if they've done something wrong, they should feel bad. Kids with a sense of responsibility, not entitlement, who know when to experience gratitude and humility, will be better at navigating the social shoals of college.
If you wish to be a lawyer, attach no consequence to the place you are in, or the person you are with; but get books, sit down anywhere, and go to reading for yourself. That will make a lawyer of you quicker than any other way.
To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.
The usual way the people are taught to think in amerika is that each subject is in a little compartment and has no relation to any other subject. For the most part, we receive fragments of unrelated knowledge, and our education follows no logical format or pattern. It is exactly this kind of education that produces people who don’t have the ability to think for themselves and who are easily manipulated.
Having transgender characters leads to more visibility, which creates education. Education can hopefully lead to everyone treating our community with acceptance and love.
Why are you so docile when you give up your child to a government agent called a schoolteacher?
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