[One Sip of a Book] 'Life Books' of 20 Successful Avid Readers

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with readers, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

We analyzed the "life books" of about twenty outstanding avid readers, including Barack Obama, Jane Goodall, and Oprah Winfrey. From Rachel Carson, who cultivated her love for writing and established a compelling style through reading 'Moby Dick,' to Henry Ford, who discovered the idea of 'reincarnation' in 'Brief Views on Great Questions' and formulated his business strategies, and Warren Buffett, who honed his value investing skills through 'The Intelligent Investor,' this book tells the reading and life stories of extraordinary individuals. The author explains, “Many people read books, but active reading is done by only a very few.”

Obama was an unusually curious person. The books he favored well reflect his enigmatic personality. Two novels to be introduced now illustrate this. One is Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, a great adventure story dealing with the complex and subtle themes of personal belief and political duty, and the other is a very different book in tone, Maurice Sendak’s children’s picture book Where the Wild Things Are. (p. 22)

On May 27, 1907, Rachel Louise Carson was born on a 65-acre farm situated on a hill just above the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh. Her father was an insurance salesman. Her mother had a great influence on Rachel’s life. A former teacher (and before that, a singer), she read Anna Botsford Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study to her daughter, subtly instilling a passion for nature and the outdoors. Thus, the surrounding dense forests and waterways became Rachel’s classroom. (p. 82)

Despite being a millionaire, Steve Jobs’s house had almost no furniture. There was only a single portrait of Einstein, whom he admired, a Tiffany lamp, one chair, and one bed. He did not like having many things around and was very selective about what he chose. After returning to Apple in 1997, he reduced the company’s 350 products to just 10 within two years. At that time, Jobs spoke about change and decline, saying, “I think death is life’s most amazing invention.” (p. 135)

Books about imaginary worlds, great philosophical theories, or great figures all inspire us. However, books about the trivial details of life, shabby and unsightly urban corners, or the bloody atrocities committed by murderous criminals can also be unsettling yet inspiring. Journalist and photographer Jacob A. Riis gained insights from exactly such books. (p. 151)

The Moral Man and Immoral Society contains what many believe to be Reinhold Niebuhr’s most important insight. Niebuhr argued that individuals can overcome sin, but groups cannot. Only individuals can be moral because they “instinctively possess some degree of sympathy and concern for similar humans.” Niebuhr stated that gatherings of people, organizations, and nations inevitably lack this empathy and compassion, and thus humans are doomed to live in an immoral society. (p. 206)

Leverage Reading | Martin Cohen | Translated by Kim Sunhee | Willbook | 360 pages | 19,800 KRW