05 October 2017

Timeless Advice from Stephen Leacock


Bagdad on the Subway
Stephen Leacock
[n.p.]: [s.n.], 1916

6 comments:

  1. Very good advice, thanks for sharing that.

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    1. I do like it. Makes me want to read a bit more O. Henry and Browning (but not Laura Jean Libbey).

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  2. Replies
    1. Well, in 1916 it was claimed that smoking was good for you.

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  3. I don't know that I really agree with Leacock. I have learned more from books I did not find agreeable than the ones I did, because they make me figure out why I believe what I believe. If the book is hard to get through or uncongenial, at least I develop my self-discipline. You can't read Dante without learning a ton of new things. We should want more from our books than mere pleasure.

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    1. I understood Leacock's advice to mean that one should read what one wants to read, rather than what one feels one should. That said, I do recognize: "If you like a book, and can read it for its one sake, then read it; if not, lay it aside." I'm a great believer in reading those I find uncongenial. Speaking of Ezra Levant, I've always maintained that writers can learn a great deal from bad writing. I can think of few books I've enjoyed reading more this year than his Trumping Trudeau: How Donald Trump Will Change Canada Even If Justin Trudeau Doesn't Know It Yet.

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