They saved the books of the Western world and left them as gifts for all humanity.
But they did more than this: they managed to infuse the emerging medieval world with a playfulness previously unknown. In the margins of the books they copied, the Irish scribes drew little pictures, thickets of plants, flowers, birds and animals. Human faces occasionally peek through the tangle, faces of childlike delight and awe.
from NYT Op-Ed Turning Green With Literacy by Thomas Cahill
Perhaps this explains the love of books passed down in my family and the steadfast commitment to literacy maintained throughout generations. Happy reading, all!
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