塞繆爾·斯邁爾斯/ Samuel Smiles
塞繆爾·斯邁爾斯（1812—1904）,英國19世紀偉大的道德學家、著名的社會改革家和膾炙人口的散文隨筆作家。賽繆爾一生寫過二十多部著作，其中最受人喜愛的是有關人生成功與幸福，有關良知、信仰、道德、自由與責任等領域的隨筆作品，這方麵最著名的有《自己拯救自己》《品格的力量》《金錢與人生》和《人生的職責》。
Ace in the Hole
Understand these new words before you listen to this article.
1. affinity [?'fin?ti] n. 吸引力
2. verse [v?:s] n. 詩
3. enshrine [in'?rain] v. 銘記，珍藏
4. embalm [im'bɑ:m] v. 銘記於心
5. imperial [im'pi?ri?l] adj. 至高無上的
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they have each for a book—just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb,“Love me, love my dog.”But there is more wisdom in this:“Love me, love my book.”The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.
“Books,”said Hazlitt,“wind into the heart; the poet’s verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be had very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books.”