There is nothing illogical or synthetic about the humility ( modesty ) of great bookmen in calling attention to the limitations of the book. No book can 1 us to know everything that is to be known, or feel everything that is to be felt. A book is part of life, not a substitute 2 it. It is not a fit 3 for worship or enshrinement. It loses its charm and much of its value when accepted 4 No one would have been more 5 than Aristotle if he could have known of the excessive and 6 veneration that would be given to his ideas in centuries to 7 . When his works became the 8 words of advance knowledge, 9 knowledge became neither advanced nor vital.
The particular occasion for these remarks is that there are 10 here and there that some of us in the book world may be 11 ourselves too seriously. In the effort to increase book reading some 12 things are being said about books. It is made to 13 that nothing is happening now that has not happened before, and that the only true approach to understanding is 14 books. We do neither service nor justice to books by 15 upon them such omnipotence and omniscience. Many of the answers we need today are not necessarily to be found between 16 There are elements of newness in the present 17 of man that will not readily be 18 of by required reading or ready reference. Books are not slide rules or blueprints for 19 automatic answers. What is needed is a mighty blend of the wisdom of the ages 20 fresh, razor-edged analytical thought.
There is nothing illogical or synthetic about the humility ( modesty ) of great bookmen in calling attention to the limitations of the book. No book can 1 us to know everything that is to be known, or feel everything that is to be felt. A book is part of life, not a substitute 2 it. It is not a fit 3 for worship or enshrinement. It loses its charm and much of its value when accepted 4 No one would have been more 5 than Aristotle if he could have known of the excessive and 6 veneration that would be given to his ideas in centuries to 7 . When his works became the 8 words of advance knowledge, 9 knowledge became neither advanced nor vital.
The particular occasion for these remarks is that there are 10 here and there that some of us in the book world may be 11 ourselves too seriously. In the effort to increase book reading some 12 things are being said about books. It is made to 13 that nothing is happening now that has not happened before, and that the only true approach to understanding is 14 books. We do neither service nor justice to books by 15 upon them such omnipotence and omniscience. Many of the answers we need today are not necessarily to be found between 16 There are elements of newness in the present 17 of man that will not readily be 18 of by required reading or ready reference. Books are not slide rules or blueprints for 19 automatic answers. What is needed is a mighty blend of the wisdom of the ages 20 fresh, razor-edged analytical thought.