NowandthenIamaskedasto“whatbooksastatesmanshouldread。”
andmyansweris，poetryandnovels——includingshortstoriesundertheheadofnovels。Idon’tmeanthatheshouldreadonlynovelsandmodernpoetry。IfhecannotalsoenjoytheHebrewprophetsandtheGreekdramatists，heshouldbesorry。Heoughttoreadinterestingbooksonhistoryandgovernment，andbooksofscienceandphilosophy；
andreallygoodbooksonthesesubjectsareasenthrallingasanyfictioneverwritteninproseorverse。GibbonandMacaulay，Herodotus，ThucydidesandTacitus，theHeimskringla，Froissart，JoinvilleandVillehardouin，ParkmanandMahan，MommsenandRanke——
why！therearescoresandscoresofsolidhistories，thebestintheworld，whichareasabsorbingasthebestofallthenovels，andofaspermanentvalue。ThesamethingistrueofDarwinandHuxleyandCarlyleandEmerson，andpartsofKant，andofvolumeslikeSutherland’s“GrowthoftheMoralInstinct。”orActon’sEssaysandLounsbury’sstudies——hereagainIamnottryingtoclassbookstogether，ormeasureonebyanother，orenumerateoneinathousandofthoseworthreading，butjusttoindicatethatanymanorwomanofsomeintelligenceandsomecultivationcaninsomelineorotherofseriousthought，scientificorhistoricalorphilosophicaloreconomicorgovernmental，findanynumberofbookswhicharecharmingtoread，andwhichinadditiongivethatforwhichhisorhersoulhungers。I
donotforaminutemeanthatthestatesmanoughtnottoreadagreatmanydifferentbooksofthischaracter，justaseveryoneelseshouldreadthem。But，inthefinalevent，thestatesman，andthepublicist，andthereformer，andtheagitatorfornewthings，andtheupholderofwhatisgoodinoldthings，allneedmorethananythingelsetoknowhumannature，toknowtheneedsofthehumansoul；andtheywillfindthisnatureandtheseneedssetforthasnowhereelsebythegreatimaginativewriters，whetherofproseorofpoetry。
Theroomforchoiceissolimitlessthattomyminditseemsabsurdtotrytomakecatalogueswhichshallbesupposedtoappealtoallthebestthinkers。ThisiswhyIhavenosympathywhateverwithwritinglistsoftheOneHundredBestBooks，ortheFive-FootLibrary。Itisallrightforamantoamusehimselfbycomposingalistofahundredverygoodbooks；andifheistogooffforayearorsowherehecannotgetmanybooks，itisanexcellentthingtochooseafive-footlibraryofparticularbookswhichinthatparticularyearandonthatparticulartriphewouldliketoread。Butthereisnosuchthingasahundredbooksthatarebestforallmen，orforthemajorityofmen，orforonemanatalltimes；andthereisnosuchthingasafive-footlibrarywhichwillsatisfytheneedsofevenoneparticularmanondifferentoccasionsextendingoveranumberofyears。MiltonisbestforonemoodandPopeforanother。BecauseamanlikesWhitmanorBrowningorLowellheshouldnotfeelhimselfdebarredfromTennysonorKiplingorKornerorHeineortheBardoftheDimbovitza。Tolstoy’snovelsaregoodatonetimeandthoseofSienkiewiczatanother；andheisfortunatewhocanrelish“Salammbo“and“TomBrown“andthe“TwoAdmirals“and“QuentinDurward“and“ArtemusWard“andthe“IngoldsbyLegends“and“Pickwick“and“VanityFair。”Why，therearehundredsofbookslikethese，eachoneofwhich，ifreallyread，reallyassimilated，bythepersontowhomithappenstoappeal，willenablethatpersonquiteunconsciouslytofurnishhimselfwithmuchammunitionwhichhewillfindofuseinthebattleoflife。
Abookmustbeinterestingtotheparticularreaderatthatparticulartime。Buttherearetensofthousandsofinterestingbooks，andsomeofthemaresealedtosomemenandsomearesealedtoothers；andsomestirthesoulatsomegivenpointofaman’slifeandyetconveynomessageatothertimes。Thereader，thebooklover，mustmeethisownneedswithoutpayingtoomuchattentiontowhathisneighborssaythoseneedsshouldbe。Hemustnothypocriticallypretendtolikewhathedoesnotlike。Yetatthesametimehemustavoidthatmostunpleasantofalltheindicationsofpuffed-upvanitywhichconsistsintreatingmereindividual，andperhapsunfortunate，idiosyncrasyasamatterofpride。IhappentobedevotedtoMacbeth，whereasIveryseldomreadHamletthoughIlikepartsofit。NowIamhumblyandsincerelyconsciousthatthisisademeritinmeandnotinHamlet；
andyetitwouldnotdomeanygoodtopretendthatIlikeHamletasmuchasMacbethwhen，asamatteroffact，Idon’t。Iamveryfondofsimpleepicsandofballadpoetry，fromtheNibelungenliedandtheRolandsongthrough“ChevyChase“and“PatrickSpens“and“TwaCorbies“toScott’spoemsandLongfellow’s“SagaofKingOlaf“and“Othere。”Ontheotherhand，Idon’tcaretoreaddramasasarule；I
cannotreadthemwithenjoymentunlesstheyappealtomeverystrongly。TheymustalmostbeAEschylusorEuripides，GoetheorMoliere，inorderthatImaynotfeelafterfinishingthemasenseofvirtuousprideinhavingachievedatask。NowIwouldbethefirsttodenythateventhemostdelightfuloldEnglishballadshouldbeputonaparwithanyoneofscoresofdramaticworksbyauthorswhomIhavenotmentioned；Iknowthateachofthesedramatistshaswrittenwhatisofmoreworththantheballad；only，Ienjoytheballad，andI
don’tenjoythedrama；andthereforetheballadisbetterforme，andthisfactisnotalteredbytheotherfactthatmyownshortcomingsaretoblameinthematter。IstillreadanumberofScott’snovelsoverandoveragain，whereasifIfinishanythingbyMissAustenI
haveafeelingthatdutyperformedisarainbowtothesoul。Butotherbookloverswhoareveryclosekintome，andwhosetasteIknowtobebetterthanmine，readMissAustenallthetime——and，moreover，theyareverykind，andneverpitymeintoooffensiveamannerfornotreadinghermyself。
Asidefromthemastersofliterature，thereareallkindsofbookswhichonepersonwillfinddelightful，andwhichhecertainlyoughtnottosurrenderjustbecausenobodyelseisabletofindasmuchinthebelovedvolume。Thereisonourbook-shelvesalittlepre-
Victoriannovelortalecalled“TheSemi-AttachedCouple。”Itistoldwithmuchhumor；itisastoryofgentlefolkwhoarereallygentlefolk；andtomeitisaltogetherdelightful。ButoutsidethemembersofmyownfamilyIhavenevermetahumanbeingwhohadevenheardofit，andIdon’tsupposeIevershallmeetone。IoftenenjoyastorybysomelivingauthorsomuchthatIwritetotellhimso——ortotellherso；andatleasthalfthetimeIregretmyaction，becauseitencouragesthewritertobelievethatthepublicsharesmyviews，andhethenfindsthatthepublicdoesn’t。
Booksareallverywellintheirway，andwelovethematSagamoreHill；butchildrenarebetterthanbooks。SagamoreHillisoneofthreeneighboringhousesinwhichsmallcousinsspentveryhappyyearsofchildhood。Inthethreehousestherewereatonetimesixteenofthesesmallcousins，alltold，andoncewerangedtheminorderofsizeandtooktheirphotograph。Therearemanykindsofsuccessinlifeworthhaving。Itisexceedinglyinterestingandattractivetobeasuccessfulbusinessman，orrailroadman，orfarmer，orasuccessfullawyerordoctor；orawriter，oraPresident，oraranchman，orthecolonelofafightingregiment，ortokillgrizzlybearsandlions。
Butforunflagginginterestandenjoyment，ahouseholdofchildren，ifthingsgoreasonablywell，certainlymakesallotherformsofsuccessandachievementlosetheirimportancebycomparison。Itmaybetruethathetravelsfarthestwhotravelsalone；butthegoalthusreachedisnotworthreaching。Andasforalifedeliberatelydevotedtopleasureasanend——why，thegreatesthappinessisthehappinessthatcomesasaby-productofstrivingtodowhatmustbedone，eventhoughsorrowismetinthedoing。Thereisabitofhomelyphilosophy，quotedbySquireBillWidener，ofWidener’sValley，Virginia，whichsumsupone’sdutyinlife：“Dowhatyoucan，withwhatyou’vegot，whereyouare。”
Thecountryistheplaceforchildren，andifnotthecountry，acitysmallenoughsothatonecangetoutintothecountry。Whenourownchildrenwerelittle，wewereforseveralwintersinWashington，andeachSundayafternoonthewholefamilyspentinRockCreekPark，whichwasthenveryrealcountryindeed。Iwoulddragoneofthechildren’swagons；andwhentheverysmallestpairsoffeetgrewtiredoftrudgingbravelyafterus，orofracingonrapturoussidetripsafterflowersandothertreasures，theownerswouldclamberintothewagon。
Oneofthesewagons，bytheway，agorgeousredone，had“Express“
paintedonitingiltletters，andwasknowntotheyoungerchildrenasthe“’spress“wagon。Theyevidentlyassociatedthecolorwiththeterm。OncewhilewewereatSagamoresomethinghappenedtothecherished“’spress“wagontothedistressofthechildren，andespeciallyofthechildwhoownedit。TheirmotherandIwerejuststartingforadriveinthebuggy，andwepromisedthebereavedownerthatwewouldvisitastoreweknewinEastNorwich，avillageafewmilesaway，andbringbackanother“’spress“wagon。Whenwereachedthestore，wefoundtoourdismaythatthewagonwhichwehadseenhadbeensold。Wecouldnotbeartoreturnwithoutthepromisedgift，forweknewthatthebrainsofsmallpersonsaremuchpuzzledwhentheireldersseemtobreakpromises。Fortunately，wesawinthestoreadelightfullittlebright-redchairandbright-redtable，andthesewebroughthomeandhandedsolemnlyovertotheexpectantrecipient，explainingthatasthereunfortunatelywasnota“’spress“wagonwehadbroughthimbacka“’spress“chairand“’spress“table。Itworkedbeautifully！The“’spress“chairandtablewerereceivedwithsuchrapturethatwehadtogetduplicatesfortheothersmallmemberofthefamilywhowastheparticularcronyoftheproprietorofthenewtreasures。
WhentheirmotherandIreturnedfromarow，wewouldoftenseethechildrenwaitingforus，runninglikesand-spidersalongthebeach。
Theyalwayslikedtoswimincompanywithagrown-upofbuoyanttemperamentandinventivemind，andthefloatofferedlimitlessopportunitiesforenjoymentwhilebathing。Alldutifulparentsknowthegameof“stage-coach“；eachchildisgivenaname，suchasthewhip，thenighleader，theoffwheeler，theoldladypassenger，and，underpenaltyofpayingaforfeit，mustgetupandturnroundwhenthegrown-up，whoisimprovisingathrillingstory，mentionsthatparticularobject；andwhentheword“stage-coach“ismentioned，everybodyhastogetupandturnround。Well，weusedtoplaystage-
coachonthefloatwhileinswimming，andinsteadoftamelygettingupandturninground，thechildwhoseturnitwashadtoplungeoverboard。WhenImentioned“stage-coach。”thewaterfairlyfoamedwithvigorouslykickinglittlelegs；andthentherewasalwaysamomentofinterestwhileIcounted，soastobesurethatthenumberofheadsthatcameupcorrespondedwiththenumberofchildrenwhohadgonedown。
Nomanorwomanwilleverforgetthetimewhensomechildliessickofadiseasethatthreatensitslife。Moreover，muchlessserioussicknessisunpleasantenoughatthetime。Lookingback，however，thereareelementsofcomedyincertainofthelessseriouscases。I
wellrememberonesuchinstancewhichoccurredwhenwewerelivinginWashington，inasmallhouse，withbarelyenoughroomforeverybodywhenallthechinkswerefilled。Measlesdescendedonthehousehold。
Intheefforttokeepthechildrenthatwerewellandthosethatweresickapart，theirmotherandIhadtocampoutinimprovisedfashion。
Whentheeldestsmallboywasgettingwell，andhadrecoveredhisspirits，Isleptonasofabesidehisbed——thesofabeingsoshortthatmyfeetprojectedoveranyhow。Oneafternoonthesmallboywasgivenatoyorganbyasympatheticfriend。NextmorningearlyIwaswakedtofindthesmallboyveryvivaciousandrequestingastory。
Havingdrowsilytoldthestory，Isaid，“Now，father’stoldyouastory，soyouamuseyourselfandletfathergotosleep“；towhichthesmallboyrespondedmostvirtuously，“Yes，fatherwillgotosleepandI’llplaytheorgan。”whichhedid，atadistanceoftwofeetfrommyhead。Laterhissister，whohadjustcomedownwiththemeasles，wasputintothesameroom。Thesmallboywasconvalescing，andwasengagedinplayingonthefloorwithsometinships，togetherwithtwoorthreepasteboardmonitorsandramsofmyownmanufacture。HewasgivingavividrenderingofFarragutatMobileBay，frommemoriesofhowIhadtoldthestory。Mypasteboardramsandmonitorswerefascinating——ifanavalarchitectmaybeallowedtopraisehisownwork——andaspropertytheywereequallydividedbetweenthelittlegirlandthesmallboy。Thelittlegirllookedonwithalertsuspicionfromthebed，forshewasnotyetconvalescentenoughtobealloweddownonthefloor。Thesmallboywasbusilyrecitingthephasesofthefight，whichnowapproacheditsclimax，andthelittlegirlevidentlysuspectedthathermonitorwasdestinedtoplaythepartofvictim。
Littleboy。“Andthentheysteamedbangintothemonitor。”
Littlegirl。“Brother，don’tyousinkmymonitor！”
Littleboywithoutheeding，andhurryingtowardtheclimax。“Andthetorpedowentatthemonitor！”
Littlegirl。“Mymonitorisnottosink！”