Books do not per­ish like hu­mankind. Of course we com­mon­ly see them bro­ken in the hab­er­dash­er's shop when on­ly a few months be­fore they lay bound on the sta­tion­er's stall; these are not true works, but mere trash and new­fan­gle­ness for the vul­gar. There are thou­sands of such gew­gaws and toys which peo­ple have in their cham­bers, or which they keep up­on their shelves, be­liev­ing that they are pre­cious things, when they are the mere pass­ing fol­lies of the pass­ing time and of no more val­ue than pa­pers gath­ered up from some dunghill or raked by chance out of the ken­nel. True books are filled with the pow­er of the un­der­stand­ing which is the in­her­itance of the ages: you may take up a book in time, but you read it in eter­ni­ty. . Peter Ackroyd
About This Quote

If you are not careful, books can end up being broken or discarded because you are not careful with them. The best way to treat a book is to treat it like a friend and treat it gently. If you don't, it will be damaged and eventually discarded, just like a friend would be. This quote is an important reminder that books and friends do not need to be treated in the same way and that we should cherish them more than we do.

Source: The House Of Doctor Dee

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