I do not speed-read books; it seems to defeat the whole purpose of the exercise, much like speed-eating a Porterhouse steak or applying the two-minute drill to sex. | |
— Joe Queenan | |
From: “One for the Books“ | |
[This quote is from a column posted on the Wall Street Journal online site titled: “My 6,128 Favorite Books“, and is an excerpt from Queenan’s book. | |
I found the link to this article on a blog I follow: Lead.Learn.Live maintained by David Kanigan. Dave’s blog was titled: “He’s Read 6128 Books“ | |
Like most “readers”, I’ve been down the path of learning to speed-read. From high school, to college, to multiple companies – everyone seems to want me to read faster. I CAN read reasonably fast when I need to. I know how to look ahead, skip non-critical words, change speed for content / purpose, etc ad nauseam. But when I read, I tend to cherish words and ideas; thinking new thoughts about new things or in different ways. When I read for pleasure – and I mostly read for pleasure – I take my time and cherish ever flavor, every nuance, every smell, every touch created by the author’s imagination and conveyed through the language of words to my imagination. Of course, I enjoy a two-minute drill as much as the next person, but I don’t want EVERY experience to be a two-minute drill any more than I want EVERY experience to be a two-hour visit to the dentist (mixed metaphor/pun intended). — KMAB] | |
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Archive for October 22nd, 2012
Two-minute Sex
Posted in Quotes, Reading, tagged David Kanigan, Joe Queenan, Lead.Learn.Live, On Reading, One For The Books, Quotes, Speed-Reading, Wall Street Journal on October 22, 2012| 1 Comment »
Just Staring, Why?
Posted in My Journal, Philosophy, Poetry, tagged Leisure, My Journal, Philosophy, Poems, Poetry, W. H. Davies on October 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Leisure |
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WHAT is this life if, full of care, | |
We have no time to stand and stare? — | |
No time to stand beneath the boughs, | |
And stare as long as sheep and cows: | |
No time to see, when woods we pass, | |
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass: | |
No time to see, in broad daylight, | |
Streams full of stars, like skies at night: | |
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, | |
And watch her feet, how they can dance: | |
No time to wait till her mouth can | |
Enrich that smile her eyes began? | |
A poor life this if, full of care, | |
We have no time to stand and stare. | |
— Written by: W. H. Davies | |
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