He thinks that reading can not only make people get rid of the shackles of time and space, but also lead us to meditate on valuable things. Therefore, "reading is a pleasure recognized by people in civilized life, and it is envied by those who are extremely unlucky to enjoy this pleasure."
But when it comes to the purpose of reading, Lin Yutang throws a surprising view-the purpose of reading is not to seek knowledge, but to seek taste!
why do you say that? If we study only for the sake of mental progress, we will inevitably regard reading as a task, and all the fun of reading will disappear. Therefore, people who study with the goal of seeking knowledge are people who don't understand the art of reading.
what is seeking taste? Books written by different people, books written in different periods and books published in different countries all have different flavors. This is like different kinds of food, which will go into different stomachs according to different tastes of individuals. The purpose of reading is to "eat the food that suits your appetite." Therefore, Lin Yutang feels that there are no books that must be read in the world, and everything must be done according to his own interests.
Lin Yutang's remarks about the purpose of reading will really enlighten us. Since Confucius' time, the slogan "Learning to be excellent is to be an official, and being an official to be excellent is to learn" has been put forward. Especially after the establishment of the imperial examination system, people directly linked the purpose of reading to being an official. Even derived the narrow idea that "everything is inferior, only reading is high".
studying is to be an official, and being an official is the purpose of studying. Until today, this view of reading with a strong utilitarian color has not changed with the progress of the times, but has become more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
According to last year's reading report, China people read nearly eight books every year on average. However, I doubt the quality of your work. I also asked a few graduate students, and of course they far exceeded the number of 8. But there are really few people who finally suck out the taste.
They read books in order to finish their papers, to do projects, to complete the tasks of tutors, and to pass various exams. According to Mr. Lin Yutang, almost none of them study for taste and for themselves.
The wheel of the times turns faster and faster, and we seem to be getting busier and busier. Mastering fragmented knowledge in fragmented time has really become a standard to test one's learning ability. Under such a background, we thoroughly implemented the spirit of "applying what we have learned". We all study to be useful, to improve our skills, and to pass various examinations.
We don't even have time to read a complete book, so we can only lie in bed at 1 o'clock every day and log on to the APP to spend more than ten minutes listening to a book to console ourselves. But we still feel that time is not enough, and sometimes we even want to shout at the announcer: "Don't talk so much nonsense, just say dry goods! I want dry goods! "
reading is an art, a spiritual enjoyment, and a wonderful journey to forget things and me. However, nowadays, few people have such leisure. Tomorrow is still very busy, but I hope that more and more people can slow down their pace, taste the real taste of reading, and then tell us those who have a dull taste: the taste of books is really charming!