Reading....

"Once illuminated the soul's shadow may perhaps be dark, but the soul itself is dark no more....the shadow... a memory of the soul."

Would this quote have made any impact on you if you couldn't read? Maybe... maybe not. Perhaps if someone read it to you but then you would have their voice inflections in your mind- and not your own original thought. Reading allows you as an individual to think for yourself.

The question at our school today was "Why is reading important?" Perhaps I should have capitalized those words, or maybe written the whole question as a bold statement to emphasize my meaning. If you can understand and follow what I've just written then thank the teacher who taught you how to read. You are able to read the printed or written word and intellectualize your own thoughts. Congratulations. Half the world can't. They must rely on someone else to tell them what to think and in many cases how to feel.

This is the UN's Literary Decade (2003-2012); make it your mission to help someone else learn how to think through reading and writing. If you don't know where to start reading always comes first and then goes hand in hand with writing. Teach or help someone to read...

For more on the UN please see the site below:
http://www.un.org/av/photo/subjects/literacy.htm