Books and Culture

In Books and Culture (1896) , Hamilton Wright Mabie argues for the necessity of reading to achieve genuine "culture". He defines culture not as a "knapsack" of miscellaneous information , but as a vital process: the "unfolding and enrichment of the human spirit". This process is about the quality of knowledge, not the quantity , and is always a result of internal growth. The ultimate goal of engaging with books is this "personal enrichment" —the enlargement and development of the "mysterious personality" This growth is achieved by engaging with the "books of life" or "books of power" , as distinct from mere "books of knowledge". These masterpieces, exemplified by Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe , are "inexhaustible" because they interpret the "life of the world". To gain culture from them, one does not need vast leisure , but rather a "thrift of time" , utilizing spare minutes. The reader must go beyond reading for information and use "meditation and by the constant use of the imagination". This involves cultivating a "feeling for literature" and a "freshness of feeling" , seeing the familiar world with a "childlike directness and delight".