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Companionship of Books
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they have each for a book -------just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb: "love me, love my dog. "But there is more wisdom in this: "love me, love my book." The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.
“Books”, said Hazlitt, “wind into the heart; the poet’s verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be had very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books.”
A good book is often the best urn of a life, enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters. “They are never alone,” said Sir Philip Sidney, “that are accompanied by noble thoughts.”
The good and true thought may in times of temptation be as an angel of mercy purifying and guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for good words almost always inspire to good works.
Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.
Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
The great and good do not die ever in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The imperial intellects of the world are as much alive now as they were ages ago.
【參考譯文】
觀其友而知其人,同樣,察其所讀之書亦能知其人,只因書與人一樣,也能做人之友。而人總應擇其最佳者為友，無論是書還是人。
好書如好友，過去是，現在也是，將來也不會變。書是最沉靜也最讓人愉悅的伙伴，即使我們遭遇災難或不幸、痛苦，它也不會背叛我們，始終如一，善待接納。我們年輕時，書本給我們以歡娛和陶冶；我們老邁時，又予我們以慰藉和鼓勵。
人們常常因同愛一本書而精神共鳴-----正如兩個人有時因共同仰慕另外一人而彼此成為朋友，古諺云：“愛屋及烏”，而“愛其人，也愛其珍愛之書”這句話里卻含有更多的哲理。書是更忠誠更高尚的情感紐帶。人們可以通過共同喜愛的作者而相知相契，息息相通。他們的思想與作者的思想水乳交融，密不可分。
黑茲利特曾說：“書香輕拂沁心靈，詩行輕滑滲血液。青春時所讀之書，垂暮時依然會回想，仿佛就在身邊發生。書籍價廉物美，我們就在書香中呼吸?！?
一本好書往往就是作者的人生結晶，里面蘊藏著他窮其一生的求索成果。因為人一生的世界大多就是其思想的世界，故而最優秀的書籍也就是至理名言和輝煌思想的富藏。這些思想若能銘記在心，就成為我們永久的朋友和永恒的慰藉。菲利普．悉尼爵士說過：“與高尚思想為伴的人永不寂寞。”
在我們受誘惑時，美好的思想如同仁慈的天使，凈化衛護著我們的靈魂，并蘊含著我們行動的萌芽，因為美好的話語總能激勵我們美好的行動。
書籍永生，是人類勞作最最長久的成果。廟宇會坍塌，雕像會朽敗，書籍卻經久長存。偉大的思想不會因時間的流逝而失其光輝，一如千百年前最初在作者腦海中出現時那樣清新。往昔的論述和思想今天依然在書頁上鮮明有力地展現在我們面前。時間的唯一作用就是淘汰低劣之作。只有真正優秀的作品才能與世長存，流芳千古。
書籍把我們帶入最優秀的人群之中，把我們帶到人間一切最偉大的思想家面前，我們聆聽其話語，領會其成就，仿佛他們依然活在人間。我們與他們靈犀相通，悲喜與共，他們的人生體驗變成我們自己的人生體驗。我們仿佛感覺到，我們是在作者描繪的人生舞臺上，與他們同臺演出。
偉大和美好的思想在這個世界上永不會消亡。載之于書籍，這思想傳諸四海，而書籍就是活著的聲音，是我們至今仍在傾聽的真知灼見，因而我們永遠沐浴在逝去偉人的思想中。與千百年前一樣，人世間無與倫比的智慧如今依然熠熠生輝。
n. 誘惑，引誘
