Why don't we live the books we read?

[krishna_lit]

I don't know if I should ask this question to us all but I'm going to do it just to know your views on it.

We read many books and we all learn something invaluable from them like no other non-readers do. But do we practice what we read, do we live what we learned from them? Gandhi's words, "Be the change you want to see in the world" have been an inspiration to many; may be we even read his autobiography and felt good about him and added one more book in our non-fiction's finished list, but what then? Are we being the change we want to see in this world. What did we do to speak only truth? Or enrich the poor? Or give their kids better education?

What did we do for world's peace, after reading The Dairy of a Young Girl by Anne Frank rather than just talk about peace? If Abraham Lincoln's words about democracy are so much inspiration to the world, then why is Democracy so flawed? I know it is because of those people who particularly try to ruin it, but what are we doing to save it? Are we trying to save it at all than read about it in the news papers and non-fiction? We read lot of anti-war books, but what are we doing to make them not happen?
Or is our knowledge acquired from the precious literature all along this time so weak to raise a voice against it in the real world and put an end to it all?

Some people among us loved Walden by Thoreau but do we try to live like him even after being inspired by his work and life? Money and materialism still defines people's fates and looks like it will do so forever. We read Buddhist philosophies but we don't stop to desire for more.

This is not just my question but the one many non-readers often ask the book lovers, and we (I, at least) don't have an accurate answer. This situation bothers me. I want to know the answers, I want to be proved wrong; or at least I want to know your thoughts on this whole scenario, friends.

Thanks!

[free]

It would be nice, krishna. But, we are surrounded by the people who think that books and life are far from each other. How many times have you heard 'It only happens in books'! I sometimes wish I could move to the part of the world where only book lovers live... :)

[krishna_lit]

It would be nice, krishna. But, we are surrounded by the people who think that books and life are far from each other. How many times have you heard 'It only happens in books'!

Yes. Precisely. world is full of such people, but.....


I sometimes wish I could move to the part of the world where only book lovers live... :)
Something like in Fahrenheit 451, huh?? But that's a great deal bigger for a human mind...

[PeterL]

Just because you don't live by what you read doesn't mean that no one does. And is it really reasonable to live by the principles that are expressed in some books?

[krishna_lit]

Just because you don't live by what you doesn't mean that no one does.
No hard feelings mate, I'm not saying that no one is doing it, but am merely asking what change are we being able to bring in the world by reading books? Just asking!


And is it really reasonable to live by the principals that are expressed in some books?
Yes it is reasonable if one believes in them.. if the one truly and whole heartedly believes in them and also is willing to face the consequences.. Then I don't see any reason why one should not follow what he believes.

[MorpheusSandman]

If I were to live Finnegans Wake I believe I'd end up in an asylum.

[krishna_lit]

If I were to live Finnegans Wake I believe I'd end up in an asylum.

If you believe in Finnegans Wake completely and are also prepared to end up in an asylum by living it then you can live it. (Didn't mean to be rude or judgemental at all, but am just trying to present my point.)

[PeterL]

If I were to live Finnegans Wake I believe I'd end up in an asylum.

At best.

[PeterL]

No hard feelings mate, I'm not saying that no one is doing it, but am merely asking what change are we being able to bring in the world by reading books? Just asking!


Yes it is reasonable if one believes in them.. if the one truly and whole heartedly believes in them and also is willing to face the consequences.. Then I don't see any reason why one should not follow what he believes.

I think that you may have asked the wrong question. I think that you meant something along the lines of why don't people live according to their deeply held beliefs. Those beliefs might not have been in writing anywhere. The way that you wrote it, M. Sandman's reply was one of the best. Someone else might point out that it isn't practical live like Robinson Crusoe, and there are many people who love the Lord of the Rings.

Personally, I would like to live according to the principles put forward in The Ship That Sailed The Time Stream, but I don't know how one would go about that. I would even like to live according to the principles of The Aluminum Man, but I do not have the bacteria that Tuche gace to Rufus for his canoe.

[Pierre Menard]

I think you fail to take into the account that not all of us read to improve ourselves ethically, or use literature as some way to make progress in the world. Frankly, I don't. I read literature because I enjoy it and like immersing myself in different styles, forms of artistry, ideas, histories, etc.

[stlukesguild]

I think that if I acted out many of the books I love, your ideal world would not be the result. Machiavelli. Dante. The Bible. The Iliad. King Lear. Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal. Somehow I don't imagine these books as promoting the life I ought to live.

[krishna_lit]

I think you fail to take into the account that not all of us read to improve ourselves ethically, or use literature as some way to make progress in the world. Frankly, I don't. I read literature because I enjoy it and like immersing myself in different styles, forms of artistry, ideas, histories, etc.

You response sounds legit. That is true not all read to change themselves, but some just to enjoy it.. And yeah that won't have much to bring change in the world..
Thank you very much for the response!

[krishna_lit]

I thin that if I acted out many of the books I love, your ideal world would not be the result. Machiavelli. Dante. The Bible. The Iliad. King Lear. Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal. Somehow I don't imagine these books as promoting the life I ought to live.

'Ideal world' yeah.. may be that wouldn't be possible for all if only one person follows what he reads or believes. I agree on that. Thanks for your response!

[krishna_lit]

I think that you may have asked the wrong question. I think that you meant something along the lines of why don't people live according to their deeply held beliefs. Those beliefs might not have been in writing anywhere.
Yeah may be I was unable to put my question in proper words, but in a nutshell, what I wanted to ask was that I have seen non-readers ask the people who read many books that what good are we doing to the world? So, with this thread I thought to find an answer for their question.. So, that's why I started this one! Yeah now I realize it might be a pretty messed up question/thread... Isn't it!! :D

[JBI]

Reading is not a moral lesson.

[Lykren]

Why are people morally bankrupt? It's a worthy question, but has nothing to do with literature.

[luhsun]

Only religious or morality books teach us to do good but even then, knaves use them to make a trap for fools. Other books can be propaganda, sales pitches or flights of imagination. Maybe DIY books.. i sometimes follow the instructions within ;-)

[Lokasenna]

If I were to live what I read, I would be a cantankerous and poundingly psychotic Icelandic farmer stamping around the frozen northlands upsetting people, instigating blood-feud, and staving in the occasional head.

...to be honest, I'm quite happy not to be living what I read. JBI has the measure of it - reading is not a moral lesson.

[Helga]

You should read Woody Allen's short story 'The Kugelmass episode' a wonderful story about a man who does exactly that, lives a novel.

[krishna_lit]

If I were to live what I read, I would be a cantankerous and poundingly psychotic Icelandic farmer stamping around the frozen northlands upsetting people, instigating blood-feud, and staving in the occasional head.

Oh that seems dangerous and bad.. its good that you are not living what you're reading. :D

[krishna_lit]

You should read Woody Allen's short story 'The Kugelmass episode' a wonderful story about a man who does exactly that, lives a novel.

Thank you for pointing it out, I will soon give it a try..!

[PeterL]

Yeah may be I was unable to put my question in proper words, but in a nutshell, what I wanted to ask was that I have seen non-readers ask the people who read many books that what good are we doing to the world? So, with this thread I thought to find an answer for their question.. So, that's why I started this one! Yeah now I realize it might be a pretty messed up question/thread... Isn't it!! :D

That's is a very, very different question, but it is almost as easy to answer.

If someone asks: "what good are (you) doing to the world?" That requires many explanations. What is meant by "good"? And perhaps more important is the question of what is meant by "doing"? Sitting and watching can be more important than physical action, and often actions, no matter how well intentioned, do no good for anyone or even make things worse. The best thing that most people can do is to keep out of the way, so that other people can do as they wish, and I include governments in that.

Count the people you know of from history, the news, or personal acquaintance who did anything that had any good effects, and compare that number who created ill-effects. I think that you will agree with what I wrote above that regardless of how well intentioned they may be they did nothing good. Think of the people who run your country and other countries as examples.

[krishna_lit]

If someone asks: "what good are (you) doing to the world?" That requires many explanations. What is meant by "good"? And perhaps more important is the question of what is meant by "doing"? Sitting and watching can be more important than physical action, and often actions, no matter how well intentioned, do no good for anyone or even make things worse. The best thing that most people can do is to keep out of the way, so that other people can do as they wish, and I include governments in that.

It seems like I have found an answer to my question. Thank you so very much PeterL..


Count the people you know of from history, the news, or personal acquaintance who did anything that had any good effects, and compare that number who created ill-effects. I think that you will agree with what I wrote above that regardless of how well intentioned they may be they did nothing good. Think of the people who run your country and other countries as examples.

And I shall also try this experiment sometime!

Thank you very much once again for the response. It really shed light on the topic for me.

[PeterL]

It seems like I have found an answer to my question. Thank you so very much PeterL..



And I shall also try this experiment sometime!

Thank you very much once again for the response. It really shed light on the topic for me.

Good luck

[mal4mac]

“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” ― Blaise Pascal, Pensées

[krishna_lit]

“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” ― Blaise Pascal, Pensées

Haha :D :D

[PeterL]

Haha :D :D

That isn't a joke. He was right.

[krishna_lit]

That isn't a joke. He was right.

Yeah.. But the rightness in the statement was so funny, which explains the smileys!

[Gregory Samsa]

But we do. Many people have the same life as Leopold Bloom, Holden Caulfield etc.