不知道如何选书？听听名家怎么说 6 pieces of reading advice from history’s greatest minds

读书的重要性是不言而喻的，但是要如何选书，如何读书呢？不妨来看看名家关于读书的见解。

1. READ BOOKS FROM ERAS PAST // ALBERT EINSTEIN

爱因斯坦：读读过去的书

Keeping up with current events and the latest buzz-worthy book from the bestseller list is no small feat, but Albert Einstein thought it was vital to leave some room for older works, too. Otherwise, you’d be “completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of [your] times,” he wrote in a 1952 journal article.

紧跟时事、一网打尽畅销榜上的火爆新书并非易事，但是阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦认为，留一些时间看看老书也很重要。爱因斯坦在1952年的期刊文章上写道，否则你就会“完全被自己时代的偏见和潮流左右”。

"Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely near-sighted person who scorns eyeglasses,” he wrote.

他写道：“有的人只读报纸和当代作家的最佳作品，在我看来，这就像重度近视的人不屑于戴眼镜。”

2. DON’T JUMP TOO QUICKLY FROM BOOK TO BOOK // SENECA

小塞涅卡：不要在短时间内读太多太杂的书

Seneca the Younger, a first-century Roman Stoic philosopher and trusted advisor of Emperor Nero, believed that reading too wide a variety in too short a time would keep the teachings from leaving a lasting impression on you. “You must linger among a limited number of master thinkers, and digest their works, if you would derive ideas which shall win firm hold in your mind,” he wrote in a letter to Roman writer Lucilius.

公元一世纪的古罗马斯多葛派哲学家、尼禄大帝信赖的顾问小塞涅卡认为，在短时间内读书太杂会让自己无法长久铭记从书中获得的教益。他在给罗马作家卢西利厄斯的信中写道：“你必须花时间品读少数几位伟大思想家的作品，这样才能让教益常驻心间。”

3. SHOP AT SECONDHAND BOOKSTORES // VIRGINIA WOOLF

弗吉尼亚·伍尔芙：在二手书店买书

In her essay “Street Haunting,” Virginia Woolf described the merits of shopping in secondhand bookstores, where the works “have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.”

弗吉尼亚·伍尔芙在她的散文《街头漫步》中描述了在二手书店买书的好处，在那里各种书籍“像斑驳的羽毛一样堆在一起，这种魅力正是图书馆里中规中矩的藏书所欠缺的。”

variegated [ˈverɪɡeɪtɪd]: adj. 杂色的；斑驳的；富于变化的

According to Woolf, browsing through used books gives you the chance to stumble upon something that wouldn’t have risen to the attention of librarians and booksellers, who are often much more selective in curating their collections than secondhand bookstore owners.

伍尔芙写道，翻看二手书让你有机会邂逅那些图书管理员和书商没有注意到的书，他们在选择书目时通常都比二手书店老板挑剔得多。

4. YOU CAN SKIP OUTDATED SCIENTIFIC WORKS, BUT NOT OLD LITERATURE // EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON

爱德华·鲍沃尔-李敦：科学著作读新的，文学著作读老的

19th-century British novelist and Parliamentarian Edward Bulwer-Lytton was a firm believer in the value of reading old literature.

19世纪英国小说家、议会议员爱德华·鲍沃尔-李敦是古文学价值的坚定信徒。

"In science, read, by preference, the newest works; in literature, the oldest,” he wrote in his 1863 essay collection, Caxtoniana. “The classic literature is always modern. New books revive and redecorate old ideas; old books suggest and invigorate new ideas.”

他在1863年的散文集《卡克斯顿汇编》中写道：“如果读科学著作，当然是新作更好，但是读文学，就要读最老的。经典文学作品永远不过时。新书是新瓶装陈酒，老书则能激发新思路。”

5. CHECK OUT AUTHORS’ READING LISTS FOR BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS // MORTIMER J. ADLER

莫提默·J·艾德勒：参考作家的读书清单

In his 1940 guide How to Read a Book, American philosopher Mortimer J. Adler talked about the importance of choosing books that other authors consider worth reading. “The great authors were great readers,” he explained, “and one way to understand them is to read the books they read.”

美国哲学家莫提默·J·艾德勒在1940年的指南书《如何阅读一本书》中提到，应该选择作家认为有价值的书籍来读。他解释道：“伟大的作家都是博览群书者，要想理解他们，一个方法就是读他们读过的书。”

6. YOU GET TO MAKE THE FINAL DECISION ON HOW, WHAT, AND WHEN TO READ // THEODORE ROOSEVELT

西奥多·罗斯福：读什么书，怎么读，自己做主

Theodore Roosevelt rejected the idea that there’s a definitive “best books” list that everyone should abide by. Instead, Roosevelt recommended choosing books on subjects that interest you and letting your mood guide you to your next great read. He also wasn’t one to roll his eyes at a happy ending, explaining that “there are enough horror and grimness and sordid squalor in real life with which an active man has to grapple.”

西奥多·罗斯福不认为有什么人人必读的“最佳书单”。他建议大家选择那些自己感兴趣的书，然后再看心情来决定自己下一本读什么。他也不反感快乐结局，他解释道“活人在现实生活中要应对的恐怖、冷酷、肮脏、悲惨已经够多的了”。

英文来源：Mental Floss

翻译&编辑：丹妮