塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯/ Samuel Smiles
塞缪尔·斯迈尔斯（1812—1904）,英国19世纪伟大的道德学家、著名的社会改革家和脍炙人口的散文随笔作家。赛缪尔一生写过二十多部著作，其中最受人喜爱的是有关人生成功与幸福，有关良知、信仰、道德、自由与责任等领域的随笔作品，这方面最著名的有《自己拯救自己》《品格的力量》《金钱与人生》和《人生的职责》。
Ace in the Hole
Understand these new words before you listen to this article.
1. affinity [?'fin?ti] n. 吸引力
2. verse [v?:s] n. 诗
3. enshrine [in'?rain] v. 铭记，珍藏
4. embalm [im'bɑ:m] v. 铭记于心
5. imperial [im'pi?ri?l] adj. 至高无上的
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they have each for a book—just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb,“Love me, love my dog.”But there is more wisdom in this:“Love me, love my book.”The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.
“Books,”said Hazlitt,“wind into the heart; the poet’s verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be had very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books.”