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Don't Read Novels

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 1, 1863

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 23, No. 1.

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Don't Read Novels.

Dr. Goldsmith, who had himself written the "Vicar of Wakefield," in writing to his brother, respecting the education of his son, used this strong language:
"Above all things, let your son never touch a novel or romance. How delusive, how destructive are those pictures of consummate bliss! They teach the youthful mind to sigh after beauty and happiness that never existed; to despise the little good that fortune has mixed up in our cup, by expecting more than she ever gave; and, in general, take the word of a man who has seen the world, and studied it more by experience than precept; take my word for it, I say that such books teach us very little of the world."