You're not smarter because you read books. You're just more informed about someone else's opinion on the topic.

Quoting someone's writing doesn't make you smarter than the next person and people not reading the people you think they should read doesn't make them lesser.

I find this pompous arrogance especially by people who read some authors that I love including Bell Hooks, Audrey Lorde, Baldwin and the likes and quoting them as a be all and end all and treat people who haven't read them as unintelligent

The people who write books are people like you and I and many of these books are opinion based with sprinkling of facts here and there.

I love them dearly and they are authorities but don't shy away from challenging their opinions and having alternative thoughts on them

I find it problematic when people quote certain writers and don't allow you to have differing opinions from their favourite writers.

The writers wrote to the limitations of their own knowledge and experiences and you should have that in mind.

*up to

Read and read some more more. Reading is beautiful and amazing but reading is meant to open up your mind, not close it. In fact the more you read,the more you realise that the more there is for you to read. Knowledge is infinite and builds up on more knowledge and tears down more

We all understand that "book smart" isn't the only sign of brilliance but then we come out into the real world and in the search for liberation, read alternative books and then now shift the standards of intelligence based on these books. Don't you see the irony?

I love listening to new voices and opinions.

We're in many cases tempted to hold knowledge of old as untouchable and the ultimate authority and are resistant to knowledge created by people we can and touch or people at our age or people we disagree with.

Read books and come up with your own opinions on the subject matter. You don't have to agree with everything someone thinks because they wrote it and you should be open to people disagreeing with what you think is wisdom

There's no minimum knowledge requirement for writing books. Someone writing a book doesn't mean that they're smart or knowledgeable. It just means that they wrote a book.

One of the best discussions I've seen was between Baldwin and Giovanni and a memorable moment was that our kids will live in a different generation from ours and that they need to learn from our experiences and respect them but not be trapped by them and to create their own way

Ps this tweet applies to most genres of books, within reason*

I was just quoting some of the ones I love most which I feel are used to diminish others more.

No, I am not saying that you shouldn't read.

Yes I do believe in science. But question it too. If it's researchable and verifiable and you doubt it, question, research, experiment and verify for yourself too.

There's no branch of knowledge that should be untouchable.

Learn and learn more each day