man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company,whether it be of books or of men. 

    A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age. 

    Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they have each for a book --- just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb, "Love me, love my dog." But there is more wisdom in this:"Love me, love my book." The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them. 

    "Books," said Hazlitt,"wind into the heart; the poet's verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happend to ourselves. They are to be had very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books." 

    A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man's life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters. "They are never alone," said Sir Philip Sidney,"that are accompanied by noble thoughts."

    The good and true thought may in times of temptation be as an angel of mercy purifying and guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for good words almost always inspire to good works. 

    Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author's minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good. 

    Books introduce us into the best society they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe. 

    The great and good do not die even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The imperial intellects of the world are as much alive now as they were ages ago.? 

    看一個人讀些什么書就可知道他的為人，就像看一個同什么人交往就可知道他的為人一樣。因為世界上有人的伴侶，也有書的伴侶。無論是書友或朋友，我們都應(yīng)該擇其最佳者而從之。 

    一本好書就像是一個最好的朋友。它始終不渝，過去如此，現(xiàn)在仍然如此，將來也永遠(yuǎn)不變。它是最有耐心、最令人愉快的伴侶。在我們窮愁潦倒、臨危遭難的時候，它也不會拋棄我們，對我們總是一往情深。在我們年輕時，好書陶冶我們的性情，增長我們的知識；到我們年老時，它又給我們以安慰和勉勵。 

    人們常常因為同愛一本書而結(jié)為知己，就像有時兩個人因為敬慕同一個人而交為朋友一樣。古諺說：“愛屋及烏”。但是，“愛我及書”這句話卻有更深的哲理。書是更為堅實而高尚的情誼紐帶。人們可以通過共同愛好的作家溝通思想感情，彼此息息相通。他們的思想共同在作者的著述里得到體現(xiàn)，而作者的思想反過來又化為他們的思想。 

    哈茲利特曾經(jīng)說過：“書潛移默化人們的內(nèi)心，詩歌熏陶人們的氣質(zhì)品性。少小所習(xí)，老大不忘，恍如身歷其事。書籍價廉物美，不啻我們呼吸的空氣。” 

    好書常如最精美的寶器，珍藏著人的一生思想的精華。人生的境界，主要就在于他思想的境界。所以，最好的書是金玉良言的寶庫，若將其中的崇高思想銘記于心，就成為我們忠實的伴侶和永恒的慰籍。菲利普·悉尼爵士說得好：“有高尚思想作伴的人永不孤獨。” 

    當(dāng)我們面臨誘惑的時候，優(yōu)美純真的思想會像仁慈的天使一樣，純潔并保衛(wèi)我們的靈魂。優(yōu)美純真的思想也蘊育著行動的胚芽，因為金玉良言幾乎總會啟發(fā)善行。 

    書籍具有不朽的本質(zhì)，是人類勤奮努力的最為持久的產(chǎn)物。寺廟會倒坍，神像會朽爛，而書卻經(jīng)久長存。對于偉大的思想來說，時間是無關(guān)重要的。多少年代前初次閃現(xiàn)在作者腦海里的偉大思想今天依然清新如故。他們當(dāng)時的言論和思想刊于書頁，如今依然那么生動感人。時間唯一的作用是淘汰不好的作品，因為只有真正的佳作才能經(jīng)世長存。 

    書籍引導(dǎo)我們與最優(yōu)秀的人物為伍，使我們置身歷代偉人巨匠之間，如聞其聲，如觀其行，如見其人。同他們情感交融，悲喜與共。他們的感受成為我們自己的感受，我們覺得有點象是在作者所描繪的人生舞臺上跟他們一起粉墨登場了。

    即使在人世間，偉大杰出的人物，也是永生不滅的，他們的精神載入書冊，傳之四海。書是人們至今仍在聆聽的智慧之聲，永遠(yuǎn)充滿著活力。所以，我們永遠(yuǎn)都是在受著歷代偉人的影響。多少世紀(jì)以前的蓋世英才，如今仍同當(dāng)年一樣，顯示著強大的生命力。