"For does a crop grow in any field to equal this [papyrus], on which the thoughts of the wise are preserved? ... It is the snowy pith of a green plant, a writing surface which takes black ink for its ornament; on it, with letters exalted, the flourishing corn-field of words yields the sweetest of harvests to the mind, as often as it meets the reader's wish."Cassiodorus was a Roman statesman who lived around 485 - 585 AD. After his retirement from public life he founded a monastery with the goal to preserve classical literature and to educate others. He viewed reading as a transformative act for the reader.
Cassiodorus, Variae (XI.383-6)
Source: The Great Courses - History of Science: Antiquity to 1700
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