I recently came across a passage in a book called Graceful Simplicity.
In a chapter entitled “The Politics of Simplicity,” in a section subtitled “Education for Simple Living,” the author claimed that “In educating for simple living, three building blocks stand out: fostering a love of books, developing a stronger aesthetic sensibility, and enhancing our ability to create things of beauty.”
The quote I offer you today is from the section on “A Love of Books”:
If one loves books, if one loves to read, if in a family people read to each other, then a foundation has already been laid for a simple life of great pleasure at little expense. Entering this world—provided that one has learned to love what is within it, and has developed the appreciative skills required to fully participate in it—is to have the key to the central repository of human wealth. Reading good books can serve as the central emblem of a life of simplicity. *
Read together.
Read alone.
Read silently or aloud.
Read to yourself.
Read to your kids.
Read, read, read.
(Graceful Simplicity: Toward a Philosophy and Politics of Simple Living, by Jerome M. Segal, Henry Holt and Company, New York, NY, 1999. p. 111)
great booky post Ann. Adding this title to my list.
I love that thought, Ann.
We’ve always got our nose in a book around here.
What a great quote! And thanks for mentioning the Spring Reading Thing, too. 🙂