of written works, and is not bound to published sources (although, under circumstances unpublished sources can be exempt). The word literature literally means "acquaintance with letters" and the pars pro toto
term "letters" is sometimes used to signify "literature," as in the figures of speech
"arts
and letters" and "man of letters." The two major classifications of literature are poetry
and prose
.
"Literature" is differentiated from popular and ephemeral classes of writing.
La literatura es una batalla silenciosa en la que uno ha de ganar, o de perder; palmo a palmo, un territorio quo no es suyo con armas que no le pertenecen.
:(Literature is a silent battle in which everyone has to win or lose, a territory that is not yours, not with weapons that belong to him.)
:Juan José Millás
When people cannot write good literature it is perhaps natural that they should lay down rules how good literature should be written.
A beautiful literature springs from the depth and fullness of intellectual and moral life, from an energy of thought and feeling, to which nothing, as we believe, ministers so largely as enlightened religion.
God be thanked for books! they are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages. Books are the true levelers. They give to all who will faithfully use them the society, the spiritual presence, of the best and greatest of our race,
Be less concerned about the number of books you read, and more about the good use you make of them. The best of books is the Bible.
The great standard of literature as to purity and exactness of style is the Bible.
Thou mayest as well expect to grow stronger by always eating, as wiser by always reading.
It is right for you, young men, to enrich yourselves with the spoils of all pure literature; but he who would make a favorite of a bad book, simply because it contains a few beautiful passages, might as well caress the hand of an assassin because of the jewelry which sparkles on his fingers.