WHAT
DO BOOKS DO?
Books make us learned, remove our ignorance, answer our
questions on life and death, God and Universe.
There are books on all sorts of subjects. You can read them
to find solutions to you personal as also universal problems.
Some books are books of
the day, that is, they are ephemeral; their relevance is short-lived; but there
are other books which become classics. They do not become irrelevant for centuries to
come.
The Gita, The Koran, The Bible, The Guru Granth Sahib and Dhamapada
are the holy books of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism
respectively. They answer all sorts of questions about life and death, body and
soul, and show the way to the attainment of godliness. They make us noble
children of God.
Holy books are not to be read only once but repeatedly day
after day, month after month and year after year. Every time they contribute new
illuminations to our enlightenment.
The English clergy Caleb C. Colton (1789-1832) says: Books,
like friends, should be few and well chosen. Like friends, too, we should
return to them again and again ---for, like true friends, they will never fail
us ---never cease to instruct---never cloy .
Without books, says A. Bartholini, the Danish physician and
litterateur (1597-1643), God is silent, justice dormant, natural science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters dumb, and
all things involved in darkness.
According to the English poet, essayist and playwright Joseph
Addison (1672-1719): Books are the legacies that genius leaves to mankind, to
be delivered down from generation to generation, as presents to those that are
yet unborn.
To conclude, here are a few precious words of the American
clergy Talbot Wilson Chambers (1819-96): Books are standing counselors and
preachers, always at hand, and always disinterested; having this advantage over
oral instructors, that they are ready to repeat their lesson as often as we
please.
**********
G.R.Kanwal
28 March 2025
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