When we read, our understanding and acceptance of the things we read is conditioned and mediated by a lens that accumulates with our personal history, outlook, and mood.
How many times do we misattribute our failure to absorb profound ideas to our lack of appetite or to poor ambience? There is so much more to be found in our readings than what the lens of our preferences and knowledge allows.
The more we read, the more we realize that our lens is small or hazy, and so afterward it becomes easier to figure out how to see more clearly.
One who reads intensely may not necessarily have a richer life than others, but the richly lived life bears reading.

Nov. 2007