T

May 20th

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

“What’s the point of having countless books and libraries, whose

titles could hardly be read through in a lifetime. The learner is not

taught, but burdened by the sheer volume, and it’s better to plant

the seeds of a few authors than to be scattered about by many.”

—SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 9.4

here is no prize for having read the most books before you die. Even if
you were the most dedicated reader in the world—a book a day, even
—your collection would probably never be bigger than a small branch
library. You’ll never even come close to matching what’s stored in the
servers at Google Books or keep up with the hundreds of thousands of new
titles published on Amazon each year.
What if, when it came to your reading and learning, you prioritized
quality over quantity? What if you read the few great books deeply instead
of briefly skimming all the new books? Your shelves might be emptier, but
your brain and your life would be fuller.