A man mayusually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; forthere is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always livein the best company, whether it be of books or of men.　

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A good book maybe among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and itwill never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It doesnot turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receivesus with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comfortingand consoling us in age.　

Men oftendiscover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a bookjust as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which bothentertain for a third. There is an old proverb, ‘Love me, love my dog.” Butthere is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer andhigher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each otherthrough their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.

A good book isoften the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out;

for the world ofa man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus thebest books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, rememberedand cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.

Books possess anessence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of humaneffort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no accountwith great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed throughtheir author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks tous as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time have beento sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive e butwhat is really good.

Books introduceus into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest mindsthat have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see the as if theywere really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them;their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors withthem in the scenes which they describe.

The great andgood do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad.The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which on still listens.