Books, Reading and hard Facts

Reading a book per week is quite a feat, as most people never ever get to do that, whatever they might say to the contrary. So, here come the facts: One book per week makes 52 books per year. In 10 years 520... In 20 years 1,040 ONLY... That means that if we read 1 novel per week -and that's a lot of reading, let me tell you- in 20 years we can only boast of 1,040 titles read, and understood, let us hope. And we must keep up with the great works of literature of all time; the books that must be read by all educated people: titles by Cervantes, Cicero, Tolstoy, Plato, Baroja, Molière, Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe... So, how many can we actually read in a lifetime? And read we must, or else we run the risk of living in the dark, in the night of ignorance. My conclusion is that we cannot spend our time diddling around and reading useless books produced by dubious writers and must recourse instead to what we know can teach us something. And as Jorge Santayana said in Three Philosphical Poets: "The only purpose in possessing great works of literature lies in what they can help us to become". (I am quoting from memory.) We should reflect on this.