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 entering class I joined in 1956 included just nine women, up from five in the then second-year class, and only one African American. All professors, in those now-ancient days, were of the same race and sex.
If help and salvation are to come they can only come from the children, for the children are the makers of men.
I have maintained a passionate interest in education, which leads me occasionally to make foolish and ill-considered remarks alleging that not everything is well in our schools. My main concern is that an over-emphasis on testing and league tables has led to a lack of time and freedom for a true, imaginative and humane engagement with literature.
Recommend virtue to your children; it alone, not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience.
At Chicago I offer a course on Emotion, Reason and the Law that law students just love. But I am not there as a lawyer, my job is to teach philosophy.
LECTURER, n. One with his hand in your pocket, his tongue in your ear and his faith in your patience.
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