#BookLovers 📚

Retired teacher Antonio La Cava travels to the villages of Basilicata in his lovely little bookmobile to promote reading. Truly Amazing.

Bradbury on Reading

President Barack Obama talks about Belonging.

C. S. Lewis’s advice to a young schoolgirl on how to become a better writer:

“The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.” — Ernest Hemingway

Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries: "It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice! Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."

After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. It has been an honor serving under @POTUS and @DNIGabbard and leading the professionals at NCTC. May God bless America.

@ChildPleez007 Yes

Have you seen #Sinners? Yes or No? That's all I need. No extra words, please. Tryna see sumpn

Albert Einstein defying the prevailing racial climate at the time by visiting Lincoln University, Pennsylvania in 1946.

Sesame Street was originally created for Black Americans By Black Americans… Long before it became “universal,” it was a radical project to teach, empower, and represent a community too long ignored. History often forgets who it was really for.

"A child cannot be taught by anyone that despises him." James Baldwin

On January 1, 1830, North Carolina enacted legislation making it a crime to teach any enslaved person to read or write. The law included: • Fines for anyone (Black or white) caught teaching literacy to enslaved people. • Specific penalties for distributing abolitionist materials, which authorities feared could spark rebellion. This law was part of a wave of anti-literacy laws passed across the South after events like: The 1829 publication of David Walker’s Appeal — a radical antislavery text written by a free Black man and Nat Turner’s Rebellion in 1831, which further intensified white fears and led to even harsher restrictions afterward. Teaching enslaved people to read was seen as dangerous because literacy: • Enabled communication and organizing. • Allowed access to abolitionist writings. • Empowered enslaved people to challenge their legal and social conditions. Enslavers knew literacy was power — which is why Black communities pursued it despite the risks.

My Fellow Shakespeareans - I’ve recorded all 154 Sonnets for my latest project, “Patrick Stewart Performs the Complete Sonnets of William Shakespeare”. This special audio production is available to listen to April 7. Preorder now: audible.com/pd/Patrick-Ste… @SimonAudio

“I think books are like people, in the sense that they’ll turn up in your life when you most need them.” ~Emma Thompson

real talk

🙏🏻

This is the man who was too chickenshit to fight in Vietnam. His daddy got him out of it.