A famous quote!

 

The Quote I Chose:

Pictures that remind me of this quote:

About the Man Who Wrote This Quote

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 ~ 1882)

He was a philosopher, poet, essayist, and lecturer who advocated for the ending of slavery. Emerson wrote many significant essays on a number of various topics, such as transcendentalism (which means the belief that humanity is good and that there should be unity) I liked that one of his most famous essays was a collection of biographies of other historical figures and that the message was to follow your ideas. His work also acted as inspiration to many other writers later on.

Why I Chose This Quote

As I read this quote for the first time, I instantly related to it. I have read many books in my lifetime and even though I cannot recall every single plot or character name, those stories have still become part of who I am and have shaped me as a person. To me, it means that in the same way a meal gives you energy and fills you with nutrition, a book can give you traits such as empathy and kindness. You won't always remember what it is that you ate specifically, but you know that whatever it is you ate filled you and was an essential part of your day. You don't have to recount the details of a novel to remember what kind of life lesson it taught you or how it was maybe your companion during a difficult time. For example, when I read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, I didn't remember all the names of the characters who were in the main characters life, but I did take away the message of the story, which was that regrets don't help us move forward and that we can always choose our future.

I believe that Emerson thought of this quote comparing stories to meals so that even people who are not readers could understand how he feels about books. He could be hinting to readers that the point of reading a book is not to memorize every single piece of information, but to let it be something that adds to who you are as a person.