T. L. Haines and L. W. Yaggy

“ No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books. It is a wrong to his family. He cheats them. Children learn to read by being in the presence of books. The love of knowledge comes with reading, and grows upon it. And the love of knowledge in a young mind is almost a warrant against the inferior excitement of passions and vices.
A little library, growing larger every year, is an honorable part of a young man's history. It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life. ”

“ Give them proper books. "Without books," says the quaint Bartholin, "God is silent, justice dormant, science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters dumb, and all things involved in Cimmerian darkness." Bring them up to the habit of properly reading and studying these books. "A reading people will soon become a thinking people, and a thinking people must become a great people." Every book you furnish your child, and which it reads with reflection, is "like a cast of the weaver's shuttle, adding another thread to the indestructible web of existence." ”

“ Books are the soul of actions, the only audible, articulate voice of the accomplished facts of the past. The men of antiquity are dead; their fleets and armies have disappeared; their cities are ruins; their temples are dust; yet all these exist in magic preservation in the books they have bequeathed us, and their manners and their deeds are as familiar to us as the events of yesterday. And these papers and books, the mass of printed matter which we call literature, are really the teacher, guide and law-giver of the world to-day. ”

“ The best society in the world is that which lives in books. No taint of vulgarity attaches to it, no petty strife for place and power disturbs its harmony, no falsehood stains its perfect truth; and those who move habitually in these associations find a strength which is the more controlling because molded by genius molded by genius into forms of grace and refinement.
There is a certain monotony in daily life, and those whose aims are high, but who lack the inherent strength to stand true to them amid adverse influences, gradually drop out of the ever-thinning ranks of the aspiring. ”

“ We lose our narrow selves in the broader life that is opened to us. We forget the hindrances and limitations of our own work in the full comprehension of that stronger life that cannot be bound nor confined, but grows in all soils and climbs heavenward under every sky. ”

“ To the weak, and to the strong in their times of weakness, books are inspiring friends and teachers. Against the feebleness of individual efforts they proclaim the victory of faith and patience, and out of one day's work they prophesy the fuller and richer life, that grows strong and deep through conflict, sets itself more and more in harmony with the noblest aims, and is at last crowned with honor and power. ”

“ A good book is the most appropriate gift that friendship can make. It never changes, it never grows unfashionable or old. It is soured by no neglect, is jealous of no rival; but always its clean, clear pages are ready to amuse, interest, and instruct. The voice that speaks the thoughts may change or grow still forever, the heart that prompted the kindly and cheering word may grow cold and forgetful ”

“ Master a few good books. Life is short and books are many. Instead of having your mind a garret crowded with rubbish, make it a parlor with rich furniture, beautifully arranged, in which you would not be ashamed to have the whole world enter. ”

“ The boy who reads deeds of manliness, of bravery and noble daring, feels the spirit of emulation grow within him, and the seed is planted which will bring forth fruit of heroic endeavor and exalted life. ”

“ Good books are invaluable as a moral guard to a young man. The culture of taste for such reading, keeps one quietly at home, and prevents a thirst for exciting recreations or debasing pleasure. It makes him scorn whatever is low, coarse, and vulgar. It prevents the weary and restless temper which drives so many to the saloon, if not the gambling table, to while away their leisure hours. Once form the habit of domestic reading, and you will at any time, prefer an interesting book, to frequenting the haunts of vice. ”

“ The influence of books upon man is remarkable; they make the man. You can judge a man more truly by the books and papers which he reads than by the company which he keeps, for his associates are often, in a manner, imposed upon him; but his reading is the result of choice, and the man who chooses a certain class of books and papers unconsciously becomes more colored in their views, more rooted in their opinions, and the mind becomes fettered to their views. ”

“ Every book has a moral expression, though as in the human face, it may not be easy to say what it consists in. We may take up some exquisite poem or story, with no distinctly religious bearing, and feel that it is religious, because it strokes a chord so deep in human nature that we feel that it is only the divine nature, "God who encompasses," that can respond to what it calls forth. ”

“ When we feel the inspiring influence of books, when we are lifted on the wings of ancient genius, we should jealously avoid the perversion of the gift. The children of this world have their research and accomplishment, and enough is done for pleasure and fame ”

“ Chief among the educational influences of a household are its books. Therefore, good sir or madam, wherever you economize, do not cut off the supply of good literature. Have the best books, the best papers, and the best magazines, though you turn your old black silk once more, and make the old coat do duty another season. Nothing will compensate to your boys and girls for the absence of those quiet kindly teachers, who keep such order in their schools, and whose invaluable friendship never cools or suffers change. ”

“ The Book that records the incarnation of divine love, is God's best gift to man, and the books which are filled with kindly thought and generous sympathy, are the best gifts of friend to friend.
Every family ought to be well supplied with a choice supply of books for reading. ”

“ You may go on without pies and cake, or without butter on your bread, but, if you care for your family's best happiness and progress, you will not go with the best of books, such as Shakespeare and the best authors of the day. ”

“ We come to know them better, perhaps than those who bear their names and sit at their tables. The reserve that makes so many fine natures difficult of access is entirely lost. No crudeness of manner, no poverty of speech or unfortunate personal peculiarity, mars the intercourse of author and reader. ”