I was reading Austin Kleon’s list of his 15 favourite books of the year when his description of “The Importance of Living” by Lin Yutang stood out (in bold):

I learned about this 1937 bestseller while reading Will Schwalbe’s Books For Living. It’s basically a book about the ancient Chinese art of chilling out and living a good life. (One thing: If you pick it up, just skip chapter 8 and Lin Yutang’s sexist views.)

Please don’t do this. That might be the vital chapter and maybe the one you’ll learn the most from. Maybe it will teach you that even the most wise are still a product of their time. That great men and women are often greatly flawed. It might teach you that sometimes you have to reject advice from a person that has given nothing but good advice before. It could help you understand why certain people are sexist, sympathise with them, learn about their flawed logic, and maybe one day convince a sexist not to be one anymore.

Don’t skip chapter 8.

Link discovery chain:
-– Browsing the shawnblanc.net blog archive
-—– Shawn Blanc: How to Read More
-——– Austin Kleon: How to read more
-———– Austin Kleon: My reading year, 2017

• BOOKS