In our land of opportunities and distractions, it's hard to devote our attention to the quiet pleasures of reading. It's as if we live our lives in a noisy restaurant and can't have the intimate conversation we most yearn for.

John Armato, a Public relations executive, cherishes his growing Library of Candidates. When people ask him if he's actually read all those books, he asks them if they've actually eaten all the food in their kitchen. "It is good to put up a supply of books; it increases the odds that you'll have what you want when you're hungry for it," he says

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.

A medida que transcurría el tiempo, se afirmaba en la certeza de que el mundo y la vida eran más fáciles de entender a través de un libro.

I'm not well-read, but when I read, I read well.

Reading was a joy, a desperately needed escape -- I didn't read to learn, I was reading to read.