As I prepared tonight to write, I ran across a photo that says “Think before you speak. Read before you think.”
I was reminded by the many people that I come across that do little reading but have strong opinions. Many of these opinions are not informed by facts, nor are they anchored in context. This little phase bring me back to the importance of reading in our daily life. Several years ago, I was in a job and schedule that gave me the opportunity to read about six different news sources every day. Most of them where newspapers, but some where online magazines or news sites. I read the New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, The Hill, The Week, and The Atlantic. I found myself more informed about what the issues were and what the background was on a given topic. I didn’t always agree with the conclusions or biases of the authors, but I feel that I came to understand the facts of the story. Now, I only have time and interest to read two, The New York Times and The El Paso Times. I want to put thought into my words but I want my thoughts to be informed.
Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule to “not think before your read”. But I would think that if you are constantly reading, you are prepared through your reading to make an intelligent assessment to inform an early opinion—one of those is to say “I need to read more about that.”
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Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash