“Something that you may have seen just once, but with your own eyes, is always more forceful than a thousand newspaper reports and pamphlets.”
– Stefan Zweig and Anthea Bell, The World of Yesterday
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“Nothing vicariously exposes you to more mistakes committed by others than reading.”
– Charlie Munger, quoted in Charlie Munger: the Complete Investor by Tren Griffin
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The experiences we have help shape us. The shocks and triumphs show like the rings of a tree stump. We don’t know exactly what the impact has been until the end, when we look back, the mighty trunk felled.
Books can’t shape us in the same way. They provide inspiration, wisdom, escape and recognition but there is no risk involved in reading.
The book is a physically passive thing. It sits there waiting to be opened. It will not shout at you or hit you if you choose not to do so.
But within the pages of the book we can learn of how others have experienced their lives, what they wish to share. I can transform their experience into knowledge and inspiration for me.
I have control when I read. I can stop at any time. Can we say that about our real world experiences? There is always negotiation, compromise and risk involved IRL. With a book, I am safe.
However, I can be curious about different ways of life and different experiences and not want to go through them first hand.
I am not brave or adventurous. But I have the means to spend time with those who are.
A book is a holiday from my own life. A click of the fingers and I am transported, no passport or visa needed.
Conversations With Quotations 