A gentleman who possessed a large personal library was asked a too-familiar question by a visitor to his home. A question so often posed to those who own a lot of books – “And have you read them all?” But this wise collector faced his visitor with an astonished look and simply replied: “No, and I haven’t drunk all the wine in my cellar either.”

The point was made at once. His books were like his prized bottles, waiting for the moment he chose to open them; there for his pleasure according to his own timing. After all, what good would a wine cellar of empty bottles be to him? Or a library of books already read?