Any important book should immediately be read twice.

　　每一本重要的書籍都必須被一氣呵成連續讀上兩遍。

　　partly because one grasps the matter in its entirety1 only the second time, and only really understands the beginning when one knows the end; and partly because one’s temper and mood inevitably change, so that one gets a different impression the second time, and sees the matter in another light.

　　原因之一在于一個人在閱讀第二遍時，會更好地理解書中內容的整體關聯，而只有知道了書的結尾才會明白書的開頭；原因之二在于一個人的心境和情緒在第二次閱讀時不可避免地與第一次有所不同，這樣一來，第二次閱讀獲得的印象也會不同，能夠從另一角度看待書中內容。

　　Works are the quintessence of a mind, and are therefore always of far greater value than conversation, even conversation with the greatest of minds. A man’s works far surpass his conversation. Even the writings of an ordinary man may be worth reading, both instructive and entertaining, for the simple reason that they are the quintessence — that is to say, the result and fruit of his whole thought and study; while his conversation is no more than the fruit of his whims.

　　著作是一個人的思想精華，盡管一個人具有偉大的思想，但閱讀這個人的著作總會比與這個人交談獲得更多，因此，一個人的著作中所具有的價值的確遠遠超過這個人的談話。甚至一個普通人所寫出的文字也會有一定的啟發意義，能夠給人以消遣并值得一讀，因為這些文字也是這個普通人的思想精華 —— 也就是說，是他所有思考和研究的結果，而他的談話內容也許只是一時的突發奇想。

　　Accordingly, it is possible to read books written by people whose conversation would give us no satisfaction; and it follows that the mind can by degrees attain high culture only by finding entertainment almost entirely in books rather than men.

　　因此，與某些人的談話無法給予我們樂趣，但這些人寫出的作品卻不妨一讀。所以，高度的思想修養逐漸使我們完全只從書本，而不是從某個人那里尋找消遣和娛樂。