I spotted the following while checking some information for my last blog post:
"Dr. Johnson advised me to-day, to have as many books about me as I could; that I might read upon any subject upon which I had a desire for instruction at the time. "What you have read then (said he,) you will remember; but if you have not a book immediately ready, and the subject moulds in your mind, it is a chance if you again have a desire to study it." He added, "If a man never has an eager desire for instruction, he should prescribe a task for himself. But it is better if a man reads from immediate inclination."
(from Boswell's 'Life of Johnson', available at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1564/1564-h/1564-h.htm)
That's my excuse for having so many books and I'm sticking to it!!
