“Let’s not let anyone tell us that the Internet is going to murder the book, because the automobile has yet to murder the bicycle. The book, like the bicycle, is a perfect invention, and perfection dies hard. What object is more beautiful than a book? And if Keats’ calculation is correct and beauty equals truth, then we need to understand that the right books in our hands are paramount for our survival as a species. There’s this great line by W.S. Merwin that I always carry with me: “But we were not born to survive, only to live.” Books, like love, make living possible.”
“I’ve always believed in a utilitarian function for literature, both reading and writing, because what else can it be for, except to elevate, to salve, to enlarge, to save?”
-William Giraldi
emollience
