The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-12-12
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

Strengthen" Prov 4:1-9
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
A man may be known by his books as
by his friends. His choice of books re
veals his character as truly as his
choice of companions. The careless
thinker, the one of indiscriminate
tastes, the low minded and the vicious
are shown to be such by the literature
to which they turn with greatest pleas
ure. But the man who has a liking for
good reading can not more help prov
ing himself cultured than the flower
can help revealing its beauty.
A taste for good books is an anchor
that will hold the spirit safe In many
of life's storms.
If young people could understand
that the best books are also the most
interesting, a deal of trash would
quickly go out of print. The popular"
books that stream from the modern
press are really not half SO entertain
ing and absorbing as the great stories
that have stood the test of time. In
truth, the reading public will not let
stupid book live. Sheer interest is one
of the standards that must be con-
formed to by any book that is to have
a permanent value. real pleasure is
conferred upon a. person, as we'll as g.
genuine service done to the cause or
good literature, when he is made to I'M
derstand that the greenest pastures for
all who would browse in the printed
page are those provided by the masters
of the art of writing.
The good book and the goody-goody
that has value is the one that reflects
book are not the same thing. The book
real life, and every page of which
breathes sanity and wholesomeness,
The morbid, sentimental and sancti-
monious volume Is really a bad book,
for it violates the eternal canon of life
and art. The best book always sets
forth, in fair proportion and in living
coiors, things as they are" That so
ligion has not done so has been re-
proach upon the wisdom of Christian
writer's and publishers and teachers
mo profit goes where there's no
pleasure ta'en,' says Shakespeare. The
truly helpful book must be an interest
ing book
What a reader takes to a book de-
ternines, in part. what he will get from
it. Thus Kipling's best works are to be
appreciated only by those who under
stand his India, either by personal
travel there or by previous reading. In
like fashion, a book about heaven is
not understandable or attractive to one
who has no interest in things heaven
tie out of the Bible, and is likely to
vote 1t a stupid book.
A book is a friend, to be treated as
such, in order that it may fill the high
offices of friendship.
This is a newspaper-reading age; and
many persons bemoan this fact. Yet
how comes 1t to pass that this is also
the greatest book-reading age of the
these better patronized-than the schol-
ars OF an earlier generation would have
deemed possible? From a study of life
as it is mirrored in the pages of the
daily newspaper 1t is a short and easy
step to the study of life as It is more
fully, discriminatory and entertain
ingly set forth in the great works of
literature.
We are as liable to be corrupted by
books as by MISUNDERSTANDING
The great public libraries report
that the most popular books among
their readers are works Of fiction.
There are several good reasons for
this; and among these must be includ-
ed the desire on the part of multitudes
of persons to find escape in the world
Of books from the irkSomeness and
unliveliness of the real world in which
they live. A book is refuge for the
weary, the discouraged and the dis
satisfied In its realm all turns out
well, and things are seen in proper
ton. What comfort are books, even
surer than the comfort of living
friends. One needs only gcant i'm
agination to picture the multitudes of
heartsore men and women who this
day will turn to the Book Of inspira-
ton to md the comfort which the
world has withheld. Il
One can better afford not to read
the best selling book of the month
than to miss those classics which bear
the seal of, the approval of the cen
turtles. And if one feels that the latest
books may not be omitted, then at
least the wise rule may be adopted to
read one old book for every new one.
No book is worth reading once that
is not also worth rereading.
To chasten ones speech, to elevate
ones thinking, to enrich ones vocabu-
larry, and to stimulate ones ideals.
poetry should be a part of ones daily
intellectual food. He who lives with
the poets is himself better worth living