The Venerable Dead

I have a peaceful study as a refuge from the hurries and noise of the world around me, the venerable dead are waiting in my library to entertain me and relieve me from the nonsense of surviving mortals. Samuel Davies (1723-1761)

I used to think I loved books because they made no demands.

I have come to realize that it is precisely because of the demands they make that I love them.

They require thought beyond the everyday conversation, dragging my mind from the casual and secular to the purposeful and holy.

They do not care if they hurt my feelings, and I cannot ever hurt theirs, so they can address my deepest senses.

They push me to depths of thought and evaluation I would never go without them, and rarely go with most people.