Don’t read not so that you might contradict and argue. And don’t believe everything you read. And don’t read just to have something to talk about. You should read so that you might weigh and consider.

Reading makes a full man; conferring with others makes a ready man; and writing makes an exact man. If a man writes little, he’d better have a great memory. If he doesn’t confer with others, he’d better be smart: and if he doesn’t read much, he’d better be clever enough to bluff others into thinking that he knows things he really doesn’t know.

Reading history makes men wise; reading poetry makes them witty; mathematics make them skillful; reading philosophy makes them deep; reading moral logic makes them grave; and reading rhetoric prepares them to argue.”

– Frankie Bacon, (1561 – 1626)