Patrick Henry on the Value of Reading

Patrick Henry one of the truly great men involved in the founding of the US and arguably the greatest orator of his day gave this encouragement regarding reading:

“Cultivate your mind by the perusal of those books which instruct while they amuse. History, geography, poetry, moral essays, biography, travels, sermons, and other well-written religious productions will not fail to enlarge your understanding, to render you a more agreeable companion, and to exalt your virtue.”

Both the source and the content of this exhortation commend it to us and to our children.

Quoted in Give Me Liberty: The Uncompromising Statesmanship of Patrick Henry, by David Vaughan, p. 140.