Wemaysaywithcertaintythatthemoreonereads,thebetteroneunderstands;andthatthebetteroneunderstands,themoreoneisinclinedtoread.Inotherwords,fromreadingcomesunderstanding,andfromunderstandingcomesmorereading.Thereadinghabitisactuallycultivatedbyreadingitself.
Nowletusdiscussthequestionofwhattoread.Therearebooksonvarioussubjects—history,literature,philosophy,science,finearts,etc.Whenyouaretochoosefromamongavastnumberofsubjectsthebestbookstoread,youwillfeelquiteatsea.Ithereforesuggestthat,beforeyouproceedtoreadanybook,youtrytofindoutwhatothershavedonebeforeyou,thatisreadtheresultsofotherpeople'slabourfirst.Usuallynewspapersormagazinesarealwaysyourconvenientguidetotheworldofbestwritings.
Anotherproblemishowtoread.Here,Iwouldoffertwosuggestions:concentrationandreflection.Youcannotwellunderstandwhatissaidinbooksunlessyouconcentrateyourmindonwhatyouread.Andthenyoumustthinkoverwhatyouhaveread.Thisisreflectionwhichhelpstosummarizeyourreading.Toagreatextent,concentrationandreflectionareinterdependent.
Areadinghabitthusformedwillprovevaluabletoyou.Wheneveryouhavesparetime,youwillresortnottoplacesofpleasure,buttothebookshelves,youwillnotfeellonesomewhenyouarealone,becauseyoucanseeallkindsofcharactersmovingandactingonthepages,andyoucanhearallkindsofgoodcounsel.Inthelongrun,yourimaginativepowerwillbeincreased,yourestheticsensibilityheightened,yourvocabularyenlarged,andfinallyyourabilityofwritingtremendouslyimproved.
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