A Book for All Readers
image1
By Ainsworth Rand Spofford 25 Oct, 2018
When we survey the really illimitable field of human knowledge, the vast accumulation of works already printed, and the ever-increasing flood of new books poured out by the modern press, the first feeling which is apt to arise in the mind is one of d ... Read more
When we survey the really illimitable field of human knowledge, the vast accumulation of works already printed, and the ever-increasing flood of new books poured out by the modern press, the first feeling which is apt to arise in the mind is one of dismay, if not of despair. We ask—who is sufficient for these things? What life is long enough—what intellect strong enough, to master even a tithe of the learning which all these books contain? But the reflection comes to our aid that, after all, the really important books bear but a small proportion to the mass. Most books are but repetitions, in a different form, of what has already been many times written and printed. The rarest of literary qualities is originality. Most writers are mere echoes, and the greater part of literature is the pouring out of one bottle into another. If you can get hold of the few really best books, you can well afford to be ignorant of all the rest Less
  • File size
  • Print pages
  • Publisher
  • Publication date
  • Language
  • ISBN
  • 411.931 KB
  • 400
  • Public Domain Book
  • 2018-10-10
  • English
  • 1409948447
Ainsworth Rand Spofford was an American journalist and the sixth Librarian of Congress....
Related Books