Last week I subbed for Vince in his Old Testament Survey class. I said that you should always read with a pen in hand. Here’s why:

Why is marking a book indispensible to reading it? First, it keeps you awake–not merely conscious, but wide awake. Second, reading, if it is active, is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself in words, spoken or written. The person who says he know what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks. Third, writing your reactions down help you to remember the thoughts of the author. Reading a book should be a conversation between you and the author.

From How to Read A Book, by Adler and Van Doren, 49. (emphasis mine)

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