489 "BOOKS"

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THESE are the masters who instruct us without rods and ferules, without hard words and anger, without clothes and money. If you approach them, they are not a asleep; if investigating you interrogate them, they conceal nothing; if you mistake them, they never grumble; if you are ignorant, they cannot laugh at you. The library, therefore, of wisdom is more precious than all riches, and nothing that can be wished for is worthy to be compared with it. Whosoever therefore acknowledges himself to be a zealous follower of truth, of happiness, of wisdom, of science, or even of the faith, must of necessity make himself a lover of books.

Written by Richard de Bury in 1344, more than 100 years before the invention of printing, and later published in 1474.