What valuable lessons have you learned from reading books that you feel you may not have realized otherwise?

Answer 1

A lot. I think fiction, good fiction, is like a prism. It takes the white light of human experience and refracts it into a rainbow of subtle hues and emotions that would normally get lost in the chaos of everyday life.

I've learned that relationships can divide people as much as unite them by reading Updike. Kerouac taught me that sometimes it's better to let go and love chaos than try to fight it. Flannery O'Conner taught me that people can become weird and grotesque if fear and anger are left in your heart for too long. Zora Neal Hurston taught me that strength comes from love, both from giving and receiving it. Auster and Murakami taught me the world is magical, but requires the right frame of mind to see it. And Tom Robbins..well. he taught me that I don't necessarily need to know what's going on to have a good time.

A good book is better than a good teacher cause it's honest in a way that people can't be in real life. It's beautiful in a way we can't see in the real world, and it's wise... in a way we cannot understand but by internalizing it, synthesizing it, and adding it to the sum total of experience in our lives.

Answer 2

The greatest lesson is that I am not alone. I grew up in a small town and was basically an outcast because I was artistic and creative. Books always reminded that there was a world beyond the small town life I lived in. And when I finally left i was cultured in ways that most people never are because I was so well read.

Answer 3

Jane Austen's "Emma" was a book that I read a few chapters of and put aside because I didn't think I'd be able to finish it. A couple of my friends had read it, and admitted that Emma *was* kind of the story's villain. I actually read it a while ago, and figured out that I didn't want to read it because I saw myself in Emma. Now I live my life trying NOT to share faults with her character. I judge people only from my own personal interaction with them, not everyone else's opinion. I live in a gossip-greedy rural area, much like Highbury. And I try to take other people's possible opinions into consideration and bite my tongue. Which is hard for me.

Answer 4

I had heard of Ferenheit 451 and always thought it was about how banning books is bad, but it's so much more than that. When I read the book I learned that when books were banned no one did anything because they didn't care. it dosn't matter whether or not books are banned, whats truly important is that we continue to treasure the wealth that is in books.

Answer 5

I dont think of this is plenty a lesson as this is an excuse, approximately 2 weeks in the past I have been given a fortune cookie that reported "a sparkling pair of footwear will do you a international of good". So now this is my excuse as to why i choose greater footwear. for specific I saved that fortune.

Answer 6

War is even more gruesome than what civilians know. It is really horrific. That's from Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front.

Answer 7

From 1984 and Animal Farm I learned about Oppressionism.

Answer 8

I have learned a great lesson from the book, "Make Lemonade". I think that is what it is called.

Answer 9

I have learned that you need friends in life. It is a necessity. They help you great through tough times you can't get through yourself. Also, I learned not to forget about the old friends you had the good times you used to have with them. Even if you still aren't great friends with them still and don't hang out all the time, it doesn't mean you can't now.

Answer 10

i have learnt not to judge a book by its cover, literally lol