—fromSesameandLilies(LectureII)
JohnRuskin
[1]Butperhapsyouwillsaythatitisbecausethelivingpeopletalkofthingsthatarepassing, andareofimmediateinteresttoyou, ; thatcannotbeso, , sofarasyoupreferthoserapidandephemeralwritingstoslowandenduringwritings—books, , thebooksofthehour, —, , andgoodonesforalltime; badbooksforthehour, .
[2]Thegoodbookofthehour, then,—Idonotspeakofthebadones,—issimplytheusefulorpleasanttalkofsomepersonwhomyoucannototherwiseconversewith , , tellingyouwhatyouneedtoknow; verypleasantoften, asasensiblefriend’; good-humoredandwittydiscussionsofquestion; livelyorpatheticstory-tellingintheformofnovel; firmfact-telling, bytherealagentsconcernedintheeventsofpassinghistory;—allthesebooksofthehour, multiplyingamongusaseducationbecomesmoregeneral, areapeculiarpossessionofthepresentage: weoughttobeentirelythankfulforthem, : for, strictlyspeaking, theyarenotbooksatall, ’slettermaybedelightful, ornecessary, to-day: whetherworthkeepingornot, , , thoughboundupinavolume, thelongletterwhichgivesyousopleasantanaccountoftheinns, androads, andweather, lastyearatsuchaplace, orwhichtellsyouthatamusingstory, orgivesyoutherealcircumstancesofsuchandsuchevents, howevervaluableforoccasionalreference, maynotbe, intherealsenseoftheword, a “book”atall, nor, intherealsense, tobe “read”.
