Martin Buber said:
I knew nothing of books when I came forth from the womb of my mother, and I shall die without books, with another human hand in my own. I do, indeed, close my door at times and surrender myself to a book, but only because I can open the door again and see a human being looking at me.
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groovy. amen forever and ever
And yet. Books are written by and for people. The two aren’t really alternatives. The best books you can open and see human beings looking back at you.
I wonder what Buber would have said about the interent.
Hmmmmmmmmmm. Dunno about this one eh. When I open my door, Henry V is not going to be waiting for me (I hope…) nor will an Inuit. Or Chaucer. Or a martian. By shutting the door to real people (who are often boring as crap anyway) I open the door to unlimited possibilities in time, space and culture. Is that a bad thing?
As for dying? Fine. But after you’re dead, you ain’t getting into Heaven without a bit of prior knowledge (well. So sayeth ‘The Church’) of a Good Book anyway…