A reason to read

Whenever I opened a new book, regardless of its subject matter or genre, I always hoped it would reveal at last the truth that would illuminate my life and fill me with insight; I longed to discover that mystical something which would bestow on me what I can only call spiritual poise. I expect that sounds quite laughable to you, but it was ( is) the case: from every book I pined to receive the blessing of equilibrium. How empty that must sound, a sign of how empty I was left at the end of each quest. I was a permanent failure in the search for enlightenment, forever glued to the lowest rung, forever peering upwards into a clouded sky.

Fraser Harrison