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Interpret: reading books (Bacon)

Short answer

Reading should aim to weigh and consider, not to win arguments or believe blindly. Books must be read differently: some only in parts, others quickly, and a few with full diligence and attention. Summaries of unimportant works are acceptable, but important books reduced to extracts are tasteless.

Read the following text carefully and interpret it so as to make the meaning clear: Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested, that is some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read but not curiously, and some to be read wholly and with diligence and action. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others, but that would be only in the less important arguments and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things.

Francis Bacon, in "Of Studies", says that the purpose of reading is to gain understanding and judgement, not to win arguments, to accept everything blindly, or to collect material for showy conversation. Different books deserve different kinds of reading.

Purpose of reading

Bacon rejects three wrong motives:

  • To contradict and confute: reading only to find faults and defeat others.
  • To believe and take for granted: accepting whatever the writer says without thinking.
  • To find talk and discourse: reading only to have something clever to say in company.

The right motive is "to weigh and consider", that is, to test the writer's ideas with our own reason and then form our own opinion.

Three kinds of books

Bacon uses the figure of food:

  • Tasted: some books are to be read only in parts, since only a few portions are useful.
  • Swallowed: others should be read quickly and without close attention, since they give little that is lasting.
  • Chewed and digested: a few great books must be read completely, slowly, with diligence and attention, so that their ideas become part of the reader's own mind.

Reading by deputy

Some books may be read "by deputy": another person reads them and makes extracts, and we read only the summary. Bacon allows this only for unimportant subjects and for ordinary books. Books reduced to extracts are like distilled water: "flashy", that is, tasteless and without strength, because the substance of the original has been lost.

Meaning in brief: A wise reader chooses what to read and how to read it. Reading is for thought, not for argument or show, and only the best books deserve full study.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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