To me, nothing can be more important than giving children books, It’s better to be giving books to children than drug treatment to them when they’re 15 years old. Did it ever occur to anyone that if you put nice libraries in public schools you wouldn’t have to put them in prisons?
- Fran Lebowitz
Attribution: Fran Lebowitz (20th century), U.S. author. “Words Are Easy, Books Are Not,” The New York Times (August 10, 1994).
Common sense should tell us that reading is the ultimate weapon—destroying ignorance, poverty and despair before they can destroy us. A nation that doesn’t read much doesn’t know much. And a nation that doesn’t know much is more likely to make poor choices in the home, the marketplace, the jury box and the voting booth…The challenge, therefore, is to convince future generations of children that carrying a book is more rewarding than carrying guns.
- Jim Trelease
Attribution: Jim Trelease (20th century), U.S. educator. The Read-Aloud Handbook, introduction (1995).
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