# Schopenhauer: On Reading and Books
URL:: https://fs.blog/2015/08/schopenhauer-on-reading/
Author:: fs.blog
## Highlights
> you don’t put the same effort into Harry Potter as you do Seneca. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537648))
> In The Prince, Machiavelli offered the following advice: “A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it.”
> Seneca, writing on the same subject, said, “Men who have made these discoveries before us are not our masters, but our guides.” ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537654))
> When we read, another person thinks for us: we merely repeat his mental process. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537659))
> to read in every spare moment, and to read constantly, is more paralyzing to the mind than constant manual work, which, at any rate, allows one to follow one’s own thoughts. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537664))
> From all this it may be concluded that thoughts put down on paper are nothing more than footprints in the sand: one sees the road the man has taken, but in order to know what he saw on the way, one requires his eyes. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537671))
> On this Schopenhauer comments: ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537684))
> Knowing what to read is important but so is its inversion— knowing what not to read. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537688))
---
Title: Schopenhauer: On Reading and Books
Author: fs.blog
Tags: readwise, articles
date: 2024-01-30
---
# Schopenhauer: On Reading and Books
URL:: https://fs.blog/2015/08/schopenhauer-on-reading/
Author:: fs.blog
## AI-Generated Summary
None
## Highlights
> you don’t put the same effort into Harry Potter as you do Seneca. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537648))
> In The Prince, Machiavelli offered the following advice: “A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it.”
> Seneca, writing on the same subject, said, “Men who have made these discoveries before us are not our masters, but our guides.” ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537654))
> When we read, another person thinks for us: we merely repeat his mental process. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537659))
> to read in every spare moment, and to read constantly, is more paralyzing to the mind than constant manual work, which, at any rate, allows one to follow one’s own thoughts. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537664))
> From all this it may be concluded that thoughts put down on paper are nothing more than footprints in the sand: one sees the road the man has taken, but in order to know what he saw on the way, one requires his eyes. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537671))
> On this Schopenhauer comments: ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537684))
> Knowing what to read is important but so is its inversion— knowing what not to read. ([View Highlight](https://instapaper.com/read/1416287627/16537688))