The purpose of reading

An apprentice once questioned his master: “Master, I have read many books, but I have forgotten most of them; So what is the purpose of reading?"

The master reflected, but did not respond at that moment; However, after a few days, while master and apprentice were sitting on the banks of a river, the master said he was thirsty and asked his apprentice to bring him some water, using an old and dirty sieve that was on the ground.

The apprentice was scared: he knew it was an illogical request. However, unable to contradict his master, he set about carrying out the absurd task.

Every time he dipped the sieve in the river to fill it with some water to take to the master, the apprentice could barely take a step and the sieve would empty, without a single drop remaining.

The apprentice tried and tried, dozens of times; but, no matter how much he tried to bring water to his master with the sieve, it continued to fall through all the holes in the sieve, getting lost along the way.

Finally exhausted, the apprentice decided to sit next to the master, and said to him: "Master, I can't get water with this sieve; forgive me, but it's impossible, and I failed in my task."

“No” — replied the master smiling. “You did not fail. Look at the sieve now, how it shines: it was all dirty but now it's clean, it's like new. The water, which filtered through the holes, cleaned it. When you read books, it's as if your mind was this sieve, and the books were like the river water. It doesn't matter if you can't keep in your memory all the water they let flow into you; for books, through the ideas, emotions, feelings, knowledge, and truths that lie among their pages, will cleanse your mind and spirit, and make you a better and renewed person. This is the purpose of reading.”