“You get a little moody sometimes but I think that’s because you like to read.

reading is traveling childPeople that like to read are always a little fucked up.”

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Pat Conroy

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“Think of yourself as a curiosity fulfillment teacher.”

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Me

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This is a follow up to my reading part 1 <which was serious about the importance of reading>.

 

This is more a rant <and a warning> on how people who love to read tend to abuse their joy of reading.

 

This rant possibly provides a counterbalance to my disdain for people who waste the opportunity to permit their minds to travel through reading … which is a luxury everyone can afford and has access to regardless of budget.

 

So.

 

Abuse love of reading?

 

‘Reading lovers’ can take some things to absurd levels <simply because they read>. Things like:

being overly pretentious.

being sickeningly pompous.

 

In general … just treating people who don’t read <or are not “well read”> as some type of lesser being. Everyone should note that the ‘pompous reader’  can do this overtly or in sneaky, but still pompous, ways.

 

Oh.

 

And then there is the perpetual idiotic rephrasing or quoting of literature <rather than seek their own words>.

 

Using quotes can be lazy.

 

Just as using any words of others can be lazy.

 

For reading is only good if you are using it to increase your own intellectual thinking.

 

And to come up with your own ideas.

And to express your own thoughts and ideas better,

 

 

Sure.

 

I have noted that reading is traveling … as in ‘traveling through other people’s thoughts and ideas.’

 

And, sure, it is okay to show pictures of your trips and travels … but … you don’t want to read from the guidebooks as you tell everyone about the trip. People want to hear your thoughts and experience it through your eyes and words.

 

Uhm.

 

Yeah.

 

 

I am certainly a lover of a well crafted written thought. That poetic turn of phrase. Even that full chapter of prose that when it ends you finally exhale. And then only to turn back upon on some pages and reread something because the way the words have been put together it stirs something inside you … it could be your soul … it could be your mind  … it could just be ‘something’ but those words have created an imprint upon you.

 

 

But.

 

The imprint is often best used in your own words when shared.

 

 

Do I use quotes or literary references?

Sure. You bet I do.

 

 

Do I use them to replace my own words?

Rarely.

 

quote insert

I use someone else’s words to either emphasize my own thoughts or introduce my thoughts or <in a business environment> to honestly “steal a moment.”

 

‘stealing a moment’ definition:

… that would be when the meeting is spinning in a direction and you cannot seem to stem the stream of unfocused idiocy spewing forth and you grab an appropriate quote out of your memory banks – because frankly your own words haven’t done shit to steer everyone away from whatever the hell it is they are saying – and you grandly toss someone else’s words out into the air.

That, my friends, is the art of stealing a moment with a quote.

 

Anyway.

 

 

Reading is useful only when … well .. you make it useful.

 

 

Reading and learning and saying nothing is a waste.

 

 

Reading so you don’t have to do your own thinking is a waste.

 

 

Reading to solely use other people words is a waste.

 

 

Reading to simply say things to show you are better and smarter (well, maybe more ‘well read’) is a waste.

 

 

Oh.

 

 

And not reading is the worst waste.

 

 

Beyond my quote/using others words rant.

 

If you are a reader and love books?

 

 

Don’t abuse your love for reading.

Don’t just talk but listen.

 

And share after listening.

 

Your attitude with what you have gained from reading can either encourage someone to pick up a book or discourage some from reading.

 

 

If you love to read, you are an ambassador for reading and need to think of yourself as such.reading store

 

 

Think of yourself as a curiosity fulfillment teacher.

Think of it as your own personal “no person left behind” program.

 

 

Advocate reading don’t belittle someone who doesn’t.

 

 

And if you struggle to figure out how to encourage someone to read?

 

 

Try out this thought <this is me stealing someone else’s words>:

 

“This is my report on the importance of knowing how to read.

If you can’t read and you get a love letter, you won’t know what it says.

That would be very sad.

Although in the long run, it also could save you a lot of trouble.”

Charles Schultz

 

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Written by Bruce