There is no Friend as Loyal as a Book

Well, it wasn't always like that. It's hard to imagine today, but in the 18th century most people worldwide were not gifted with this ability.

Why and when did we start reading?

The history of reading is naturally closely connected with the history of writing. If we dust off our history books and our knowledge, most of us can probably recall terms like cuneiform and hieroglyphs. However, attempts to capture the world around us using signs existed far before them.

People originally started using various symbols and signs for purely practical reasons. They recorded when animals give birth to young, in which season they roam the countryside, or when various crops are harvested. Only later did property markings, financial records and religion come.

Writing and reading experienced a massive boom in Europe with the advent of antiquity. Ancient Rome and Greece were the hotbed of literature, but also of many laws and documents. And although we already owe works such as Antigone, Illias and Odyssey to the ancient Greeks and Romans, we had to wait a few more centuries for the real boom in reading...

We read other things and... differently

In the past, reading was different not only by choosing a topic. However, to be quite honest, there was no choice to speak of. You could at most decide whether to put on priestly robes and start studying the Bible and the biographies of the saints, or whether you would become a clerk and endlessly delve into the records of property and debts.

In ancient times, we even read differently. According to some sources, the ability to read silently was even considered a superpower. When Alexander the Great quietly read a letter from his mother in 330 for Christ's sake, his soldiers are said to have watched in dumb amazement. Although today reading is mostly a very intimate pastime that usually takes place only in our minds, ancient scholars considered silent reading to be a very strange habit indeed.

Likewise, reading in bed is a relatively recent habit. Not so long ago, this action was considered truly immoral. One possible explanation is the fact that reading a great book can cause forgetting about marital responsibilities. Another explanation operates with the theory about the dangers of candles...

In the 18th century it was considered immoral to read in bed

The history of reading and books is full of other fascinating stories and interesting histories. I can't help but mention at least a few other little things from my "reader's diary".

Did you know?

The first library was established in the territory of today's Iraq by the Assyrians. It was created already in the 7th century BC and was understandably full of clay tablets.
Punctuation entered writing in the period up to about 200 years BC
In Mesopotamia, birds were considered sacred because their footprints resembled cuneiform writing. If a bird walked on the ground and left footprints, it was considered a message from God, but still waiting to be deciphered.
The Chinese emperor Shih-Huang Ti wanted to burn all the writings that were created before he came to power, so that history would begin by him.

02.

Tell me, what do you read

INSPIRATION FROM VIP LIBRARIES

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Reading is not an old school activity. Even today we find a lot of passionate readers among famous and successful people. Are you inspired by their examples?

Warren Buffett

The well-known businessman and financier reads daily. His domain is primarily newspapers. He spends up to 6 hours a day with them. In addition to these, he reads about 500 pages of various financial documents a day. The answer to the question of where he gets all the information and materials for the running of his empire.

Bill Gates

The founder of Microsoft is known to read about 50 books every year. Among them, there are popular science and professional titles, but also fiction.

Elon Musk

Another well-known face of the world rankings of successful entrepreneurs is said to have already read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica at the age of 9 and that he continues to actively read for several hours a day. In addition, he is known to master speed reading. He thus consumes books about 3 times faster than the average.

Book Swags

TITLES YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY NOT MISS

ALL RECOMMENDATIONS

Biography of Robert Oppenheimer

04.

I read, You read, We read

READING STATISTICS AND FACTS THAT MAY SURPRISE YOU

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For us, reading is natural. However, it is enough to realize that even 200 years ago, more than 50% of the population was illiterate... And that even today - in the 21st century, there are countries on Earth where this is still the case.

If we realize this, perhaps we will see the opportunity to immerse ourselves in stories and spend time with a nice book as a truly uplifting and extraordinary gift that also makes us better.

05.

Reading is not science. Or is it?

A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT VIEW OF THE WORLD OF READING

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