“Books,
purchasable at low cost, permit us to interrogate the past with high
accuracy; to tap the wisdom of our species; to understand the point of
view of others, and not just those in power; to contemplate--with the
best teachers--the insights, painfully extracted from Nature, of the
greatest minds that ever were, drawn from the entire planet and from all
of our history. They allow people long dead to talk inside our heads.
Books can accompany us everywhere. Books are patient where we are slow
to understand, allow us to go over the hard parts as many times as we
wish, and are never critical of our lapses. Books are key to
understanding the world and participating in a democratic society.”
― Carl Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996), The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark