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Of all man’s instruments, the most wondrous, no doubt, is the book. The other instruments are extensions of his body. The microscope, the telescope, are extensions of his sight; the telephone is the extension of his voice; then we have the plow and the sword, extensions of the arm. But the book is something else altogether: the book is an extension of memory and imagination.
“All things worth praise
That unto Khadeeth’s mart have
From far been brought through perils over-passed,
All santal, myrrh, and spikenard that disarms
The pard’s swift anger; these would weigh but light
‘Gainst thy delights, my Khadeeth! Whence protected
By naught save her great grace that in him showeth,
My song goes forth and on her mercy calleth.”
Ezra Pound | “Canzon: Of Incense”