A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today as 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, and 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 lives in them. They can find their opinions from books, in reverse, the ideas of the author influence them too.
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 long ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page.
好书就像是你最好的朋友。 它始终不渝， 过去如此， 现在如此， 将来也永远不变。 它是最有耐心， 最令人愉悦的伴侣。 在我们穷困潦倒时， 临危受难时， 它也不会抛弃我们， 对我们总是一如既往地亲切。 在我们年轻时， 好书陶冶我们的性情，增长我们的知识； 到我们年老时， 它又给我们以慰藉和勉励。
人们常常因为喜欢同一本书而结为知己， 就像有时两个人因为敬慕同一个人而成为朋友一样。
有句古谚语说道： “爱屋及乌。 ”其实“爱我及书”这句话蕴涵更多的哲理。 书是更为真诚和高尚的情谊纽带。 人们可以通过共同喜爱的作家沟通思想， 交流感情，彼此息息相通， 并与自己喜欢的作家思想相通， 情感相融。 他们能从书中找到自己的观点， 反过来， 作者的观点也能感染他们。
书籍具有不朽的品质， 是为人类努力创造的最为持久的成果。 寺庙会倒塌，神像会朽烂， 而书却经久长存。 对于伟大的思想来说， 时间是无关紧要的。 多年前初次闪现于作者脑海的伟大思想今日依然清新如故。 我们依旧能从书籍的字里行间里真切地感受当年作者的所见所想。