We have been doing the same things for millennia — why not learn from the mistakes of history? Drink deeply from the past and converse with the wisest to have ever lived.

4 Reasons Why You Should Pick Up A Book In 2021

Reading will transform your life

What if you had direct access to the greatest minds of history? What if you were to converse with the wisest people to have ever lived? What if they passed down the most important tips from their lifetimes of struggle, pain and toil? What if, in the space of a few weeks, you could learn a generation’s worth of lessons? What if instead of learning everything the hard way you stood on the shoulders of giants and learnt from the stories of others?

Well, you can.

You can learn to live.

You can learn to become more confident.

You can strengthen your body and mind.

The answer lies on the bookshelf.

Hypothesis: Reading improves you in every single area.

Reversal: A lack of reading weakens you.

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them” — Mark Twain

1. Save time.
   Most mistakes are not new. Most mistakes are not unique. It is through failure that we learn, but we must learn to be efficient with our time and use the lessons of others as a springboard for our own plans. Why should we learn everything from our own first-hand experience when we can learn from the entire lifetimes of others? Think about the thousands of others that have strived and struggled just as we have. Ask instead, what benefit do we get by not reading?
   “Fools learn from experience. I prefer to profit by others experience” — Otto Von Bismarck (1815–1898)
2. Enjoy ourselves.
   In times of loneliness, we cling to the words of characters, of men and women. We enter exciting new worlds. We find our very selves articulated in ways we had not previously thought. We learn groundbreaking ideas, difficult to grasp philosophies, hard truths. Yet we are better for it. We enjoy it. We laugh, cry, we become inspired and heartbroken. We live.
3. Learn.
   You look through the millennia and years at the lessons and wisdom of ages past. There are patterns throughout history, in human nature and the world. There are the same power games, deceptive tricks, business practices, advice… Why not learn from that? There is also inherent chaos. You learn more about yourself through stories, your imagination kicking in. We search unconsciously for information we can apply today, timeless lessons. We crave newness but often neglect timeless truths and cautionary tales from the likes of Cato and Seneca. There are 5,000 years of such lessons— you don’t need a mentor, you just need to pick up a good book.
   
   Knowledge is power. Lack of knowledge is weakness. Cliche, but true. It’s why every totalitarian regime has burnt books: we become smarter. We become more informed. We learn and become stronger, more difficult to manipulate. We look absolutely everywhere for solutions to our problems: YouTube, friends, the internet. Rarely do we look on the bookshelf, where there are always answers and ideas to be cultivated.
4. It’s our duty.
   We must leave this world in a better place. Arm yourself with knowledge, therefore, that will help you in this pursuit. Even the most revolutionary ideas are built on the fabric of others. All of science in interlinked, dependent on all subsequent theory: a system of interdependence. Likewise, we live in a globalised world, each of our actions impacting others, whether we know it or not. Whether it’s the timeless Meditations by Marcus Aurelius or Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle is the Way, we are changed to the very core. We are armed and ready to face the world.

“A book given. A book read. Such a simple exchange, but done between the right two people at the right time — as it was here — can be enough enough to change the world” — Lives of the Stoics