Mortimer J.Adler

is: Ask questions while you read—questions that you yourself must try to answer in the course of reading.

Thus we can roughly define what we mean by the art of reading as follows: the process whereby a mind, with nothing to operate on but the symbols of the readable matter, and with no help from outside,* elevates itself by the power of its own operations.

Inspectional reading is the art of skimming systematically.

Analytical reading is preeminently for the sake of understanding.

Think of yourself as a detective looking for clues to a book’s general theme or idea, alert for anything that will make it clearer.

Skimming or pre-reading a book is always a good idea; it is necessary when you do not know, as is often the case, whether the book you have in hand is worth reading carefully. You will find that out by skimming it. It is generally desirable to skim even a book that you intend to read carefully, to get some idea of its form and structure.

Finally, do not try to understand every word or page of a difficult book the first time through. This is the most important rule of all; it is the essence of inspectional reading. Do not be afraid to be, or to seem to be, superficial. Race through even the hardest book. You will then be prepared to read it well the second time.

2. WHAT IS BEING SAID IN DETAIL, AND HOW?

3. Is THE BOOK TRUE, IN WHOLE OR PART?

The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.

RULE 1. YOU MUST KNOW WHAT KIND OF BOOK YOU ARE READING, AND YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS AS EARLY IN THE PROCESS AS POSSIBLE, PREFERABLY BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO READ.