BOOK IS MAN’S BEST FRIEND
We all must have heard this saying at least once in a childhood, but still this culture of book reading is dying. The present generation has completely lost this important virtue partly due to their ignorance and partly due to their unwillingness.
These are some facts, which speaks volume of our wrong priorities. Although these facts are about America only but still it may gives you some idea of where your country stands.
- • 33% of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
- • 42% of college graduates never read another book after college.
- • 80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
- • 70% of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
- • 57% of new books are not read to completion.
Source: silverbearcafe.com
These statistics show that people usually cram their course books only to pass their grades, and never try to expose themselves to more knowledge. We have neglected the importance of books, and have replaced them by TV unfortunately. Book reading benefits a persons in dozens of ways, some of them are explained below, which will explain the need of resurrecting the book reading culture.
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero
BOOKS INCREASES YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Book reading broaden our horizons. Instead of just cramming course books when we look out to gather more knowledge from other books we find a whole new world yet to be discovered. It exposes ourselves to new facts and figures especially those which may speak against our own established concepts. It makes you aware of the other view points as well.
It helps you in thinking out of the box. Suppose if you are a Pakistani or Indian who only watches his own country’s media, then how can you get aware of other country’s view and stance? You will always believe only in what your own media feeds you.Pew Research Center after conducting a research reached to this conclusion that most of the Americans know either little or nothing about Islam. So in this situation if the media will show them only the negative side of Islam how can they come to know the other side of the image? The books will enlighten you and help you in getting firsthand knowledge of everything even without the censorship of media.
“The man who does not read has not no advantage over the man who can not” —Mark Twain
BOOKS MAKES YOU CREATIVE AND A REASONABLE PERSON
Books may instill in yourselves creativity and you may not be able to see the world in the same way again. Everyday dozens of fictional books gets published; each contains unique and creative ideas.
York University researchers say that getting yourselves surrounded by the characters, of the novel or book reading, help your brain in understanding other people’s situations better. They make you to see the World through other person’s perspective.
BOOKS CAN MELT AWAY STRESS
Reading can help you relax. One 2009 study by Sussex University researchers showed that reading may reduce stress by as much as 68 percent.”It really doesn’t matter what book you read, by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author’s imagination,” cognitive neuropsychologist David Lewis told The Telegraph.
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”
― Socrates
The above mentioned benefits are enough to make you realize the importance of book reading, however some may argue that they don’t find enough time to read, for those I am going to mention some famous personalities who also read. If they can read you also can read. At least you are not busier than these people!
YES! You are right, its Bill Gates.His favourite book is Far Cry and in one of his interviews he told that he reads over an hour every night
In 2016 Obama made public the books he was going to read that summer, these were
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BY COLSON WHITEHEAD
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN BY PAULA HAWKINS
H IS FOR HAWK BY MARK HADDON
BARBARIAN DAYS A SURFING LIFE BY WILLIAM FINNEGAN
SEVENES BY NEAL STEPHENSON
Mark Zuckerburg had in fact made a resolution for 2015 that he would read a book every two weeks, but after the birth of his daughter he finds it difficult to complete his resolution.However he still devout a good amount of time to book reading.
Besides this, almost every world leader reads books. If till this age you have not started reading books, then start form today. Take the initiative and explore the World.
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