quote · Words worth keeping
When we read, another person thinks for us: we merely repeat his mental process. In learning to write, the pupil goes over with his pen what the teacher has outlined in pencil: so in reading; the greater part of the work of thought is already done for us. This is why it relieves us to take up a book after being occupied with our own thoughts. And in reading, the mind is, in fact, only the playground of another’s thoughts. So it comes about that if anyone spends almost the whole day in reading, and by way of relaxation devotes the intervals to some thoughtless pastime, he gradually loses the capacity for thinking; just as the man who always rides, at last forgets how to walk. This is the case with many learned persons: they have read themselves stupid.
When we read, another person thinks for us: we merely repeat his mental process. In learning to write, the pupil goes over with his pen what the teacher has outlined in pencil: so in reading; the greater part of the work of thought is already done for us. This is why it relieves us to take up a book after being occupied with our own thoughts. And in reading, the mind is, in fact, only the playground of another’s thoughts. So it comes about that if anyone spends almost the whole day in reading, and by way of relaxation devotes the intervals to some thoughtless pastime, he gradually loses the capacity for thinking; just as the man who always rides, at last forgets how to walk. This is the case with many learned persons: they have read themselves stupid.
Approximate historical placement: c. 1824 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Arthur Schopenhauer
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate historical placement: c. 1824 AD · industrial
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1788 to 1860; Wikidata Q38193, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38193 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 61177; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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