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Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind.
Books are humanity in print.
"- Barbara W. Tuchman9:37 Apr 12th, 2012 | 0 notes
Accidental Kleptomania
8:21 Aug 25th, 2009 | Notes
It’s nothing big or major. You always meant to return it. It’s not like the owner is missing it terribly or they would have asked for it back, right?
If you’re like me, you have gone through questions like this. Over time, do you manage to accumulate small, nitpicky item from people that you never manage to return? I know I do. As I said, these kinds of relics aren’t big or expensive items. Books, video games, CDs, stuff like that. You tend to keep them lying around for ages, always reminding yourself to return them, always forgetting to. Then it gets to a point where you’ve waited too long to return them. You’re left with that nagging internal argument slowly eating away at you.
Should I return it? Have I left it too long? Maybe they’ll forget. I won’t bother now. No, I should return it! How will they react when I do? After all, I have had it for about three years now. Will they be angry with me for not giving it back for so long? Maybe they’ll be perfectly fine with it. I’ve had for how long?!
I have a few items like this. I have two library books I haven’t returned, one from 2003 and the other from 2006. It’s been so long that I don’t want to face up to the librarians out of fear of their reaction to my tardiness. Then there’s that cassette tape from my year seven Chinese teacher. It has an audio version of a poem that I had to learn for a competition. On the one hand, the contents of the tape are useless because the poem isn’t used for that competition anymore. On the other hand, the “Please return to Mrs. Liu” written in large block letters on the case makes me feel guilty for not after all these years. Then there’s the obligatory book that someone lent me which we both keep forgetting I have. The same thing happens vice versa. She has one of my books as well.
I’ve made a resolution for myself. On the final day of school I’m going to go around to all these people and return their now superfluous, useless items. I don’t care if they don’t need them anymore, or if the media I’m returning is technologically archaic. I’m going to return them. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do, and because I’m sick of having them sitting on my desk.
