Schopenhauer said, “Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them in: but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents”.
Schopenhauer believed books were focused on making money. He felt the content of books did not allow people a resource to learn from or develop individually on a personal level. It almost seems like people are developing content to become a recognized expert on a subject matter, or noted as “that fantastic author” for the glamour of it all. I understand that some people write because they enjoy it, that’s what they like to do. I also agree people that have the knowledge and ability to convey their expertise on to paper in book form is a special gift. But, what is the author’s real objective.
Is the author’s goal to make use of global distribution and run thousands of books all over the world, concerned about profit margins? Or is that author sincerely focused on objectively sharing their perspectives and expertise to us with the objective of educating us and helping individuals become more well rounded about that topic. Schopenhauer has a great concept, that if we purchase a book, then we should also invest in the time to read it. Our books shops are filled with a cross section of literary masterpieces along with commercialized books targeting the bottom line dollar. Even way back in the 1800’s, Schopenhauer understood that authors misused their power to develop shallow literature for monetary gain as their primary objectives. Let’s not waste limited time we have on superficial literature. Let’s also give our authors the benefit of the doubt and try to learn from their powerful piece. I sure hope my next purchase on the “red hot sale table” at Border’s Books delivers the goods for me!
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