Jun 28
"Of course, we derive a social advantage when many of us have read a few of the same books, especially if those books are the classics—it aids conversation. Shared knowledge of the alphabet, numbers, weights and measures, vocabulary, and a minimum of references is a good thing—it allows us to understand one another. Some common knowledge of texts, songs, sayings, news stories, and films is also a good thing—without it, conversation would be impossible."
from So Many Books by Gabriel Zaid, translated by Natasha Wimmer.
I'm always trying to impress this upon my students
