The Love of Reading, Part 2

Whenever historians list the greatest U.S. Presidents, Thomas Jefferson is always included. What was the source of his greatness? Jefferson biographer, Fawn Brodie, believes it was rooted in his early training which she called an “apprenticeship for greatness.” While most law students served an apprenticeship of no more than two years, Thomas Jefferson was tutored by George Wythe for five full years. (Patrick Henry boasted that he studied no more than six weeks. That’s something to be proud of?!)

Jefferson’ training consisted of five years of “uninterrupted reading, not only in the law but also in ancient classics, English literature, and general political philosophy.” As a young man “when most of his friends were hunting, gambling, cockfighting, speculating, marrying young, or wenching among slaves, he seems to have buried himself in books and the kind of books most of his friends avoided as difficult or esoteric.”

Jefferson’s lifelong commitment to reading was obvious when he advised a young lawyer to spend his pre-dawn hours reading "in physical studies, Ethics, Religion, natural and sectarian, and natural law.” Then from 8 A.M to noon he should read the law, from twelve to one in politics, and in the evening criticism, rhetoric, and oratory. Over half of a lawyer’s day should be spent in reading. Wow! This commitment to reading became a “necessity for Jefferson, like music and gardening, a special nutrient without which he withered.”

When I look back on my life, I shudder to think how withered my life would be without reading. Books (including the Scriptures) have been my primary source of learning how to parent, how to be a husband, how to educate my children, how to steward God’s gifts, how to prepare for eternity, how to care for my body, and much, much more.

Sadly, nearly 40% of American adults seldom or never read a book. The average American spends less than two hours reading each week--this includes light reading like newspapers and letters.

Harry Truman said the “not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” Like Jefferson, do you want to be an effective leader? in your home? at work? at church? Then you would be wise to develop the discipline of reading.