Umberto Eco on Private Libraries

Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:

"It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.
"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.
"If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!
"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Installation Pictures

Image
 On January 7, I was installed as the Pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church, Rensselaer, IN and The Lutheran Church of Our Saviour, Monticello, IN.   Rev. Dr. D. Richard Stuckwisch, President of the Indiana District - LCMS, installed me.   Rev. David Mueller served as Preacher Rev. Wayne Berkesch, vacancy Pastor of St. Luke and Our Saviour served as officiant for the Service of the Word. I presided at the Service of the Sacrament. I am grateful that so many people came.  Most of the LCMS Pastors in the circuit were also present.  Thank you to Lutheran Church of Our Saviour for hosting the installation.    
Read more

Pentecost 3 - Deception

Image
Click here to view the service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Wikimedia Commons - Lucas Cranach - Adam and Eve Paradise 2024 Pentecost 3  Genesis 3:8-15         2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1       Mark 3:20-35  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O  Lord , my strength, and my redeemer. Deception is a regular part of our lives. We must be alert to the possibility that the person contacting us is a scammer. We must judiciously guard our myriad usernames and passwords so that we do not get hacked and someone steals our identity and money. We learn to read and listen to the news with a certain skepticism. We ask, what is the hidden agenda here? We learn to read the fine print and to question what is said as well as what is left unsaid.   The Bible attests that deception has been with us since the near beginning. In the lesson from Genesis, we see the after effect of deception. I went back and looked carefully at what Satan did through the serpent. One o
Read more

Sermon and video for 19th Sunday after Pentecost

Image
Video of service at St. Luke, Rensselaer 2024 Pentecost 19 Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29             James 5:1-20                   Mark 9:38-50 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. In the course of our three-year lectionary, the book of Numbers is only used three times. Numbers 6 and 21 are the other two readings. So, I offer a quick overview of the book of Numbers because even in our devotional readings, I suspect we may not draw deeply from this particular book.  The book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Old Testament and is a part of the Old Testament we call the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible. They are written by the prophet and law-giver Moses. The book of Numbers records the travels of Israel from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab where they camp along the Jordan River. The book is framed by a census of God’s people at Sinai and on the plains of Moab.  The
Read more