Books are carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. They are engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in a sea of time.

                                 Barbara Tuchman

If the only benefit of a book was that it keeps you away from foolish daydreaming and prevents you from frivolity, it would certainly be considered to be a true friend who has given you a great favour.

                             An Arab Philosopher