Buying or Borrowing Books?

　　Books are close friends of humanity. They can arm us with knowledge and information we need to make success of life. Through books we can obtain skills and techniques for survival and development. Through books we can enlighten our spirits and live a fuller life. There are generally two ways in which we can have access to books: borrowing or buying. While millions are borrowing books, I still think buying them best suits me and gives me the greatest enjoyment¹.

　　Admittedly, there are a few merits for borrowing books. For one thing, borrowing books can save us huge amounts of money. And of course, with the money saved we can do other more worthy² things .And also, as we borrow books from the library and friends, we normally have deadline to finish them, and consequently we can read more books in a limited time. And we can, above all, better our efficiency of our reading, just as a famous Chinese saying goes, “books can not be read unless borrowed.”

　　However, some advantages for buying books are more obvious and compelling. One of them, definitely not shared by the choice of borrowing books, is the abundance of freedom that buying books can offer us. Since we can keep the books as long as we wish, we can read as much as we want. Another strength of owing books is that we can take whatever notes on the margin³ of the pages of the books. And finally, the process of selecting and keeping books can be a great fun that borrowing books can by no means offer.

　　While borrowing books can, to some extent, quench⁴ our thirst for knowledge, buying books gives us greater pleasure of selecting and keeping the best of the world treasure. Can we think of any thing else more delightful⁵ and rewarding?