William Lyon Phelps April 6, 1933 Radio address The habit of reading is one of the greatest resources of mankind; and we enjoy reading books that belong to us much more than if they are borrowed. A borrowed book is like a guest in the house; it must be treated with punctiliousness punctilious adj. marked by precise exact accordance with the details of codes or conventions, with a certain considerate formality. You must see that it sustains no damage; it must not suffer while under your roof. You cannot leave it carelessly, you cannot mark it, you cannot turn down the pages, you cannot use it familiarly. And then, some day, although this is seldom done, you really ought to return it. But your own books belong to you; you treat them with that affectionate intimacy that annihilates formality. Books are for use, not for show; you should own no book that you are afraid to mark up, or afraid to place on the table, wide open and face down. A good reason for marking favorite passages in books is that this practice enables you to remember more easily the significant sayings, to refer to them quickly, and then in later years, it is like visiting a forest where you once blazed a trail. You have the pleasure of going over the old ground, and recalling both the intellectual scenery and your own earlier self. Everyone should begin collecting a private library in youth; the instinct of private property, which is fundamental in human beings, can here be cultivated with every advantage and no evils

Phelps wrote often on the subject of books and reading. This speech is perhaps the most famous of these.

While Phelps clearly wanted to encourage people to own books we was not insensitive to the inability of some people to afford the books they wanted. He is quoted as having said: A bibliophile of little means is likely to suffer often. Books don't slip from his hands but fly past him through the air, high as birds, high as prices.. He is also reported to have said: Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good plays, good company, good conversation - what are they? They are the happiest people in the world.

Phelps' literary tastes were quite varied. Not surprisingly he was interested in the classics, but we was also interested in popular literature. In a review of "The French Powder Mystery" (1930), Phelps is quoted as having said: Ellery Queen belongs with Sherlock Holmes, Arsene Lupin, Philo Vance, and other master-minds.

. One should have one's own bookshelves, which should not have doors, glass windows, or keys; they should be free and accessible to the hand as well as to the eye. The best of mural decorations is books; they are more varied in color and appearance than any wallpaper, they are more attractive in design, and they have the prime advantage of being separate personalities, so that if you sit alone in the room in the firelight, you are surrounded with intimate friends. The knowledge that they are there in plain view is both stimulating and refreshing. You do not have to read them all. Most of my indoor life is spent in a room containing six thousand books; and I have a stock answer to the invariable question that comes from strangers. Have you read all of these books? Some of them twice. This reply is both true and unexpected. There are of course no friends like living, breathing, corporeal corporeal 1: having or relating to a physical material body; a) not spiritual b: not immaterial or intangible. men and women; my devotion to reading has never made me a recluse. How could it? Books are of the people, by the people, for the people

In this allusion is to Abraham Lincoln's peachoften known as The Gettysburg Address delivered at the Gettysburg battlefield on November 19, 1863 Phelps is associating the length of his speech (short) with the length of President Lincoln's famous short speech. This is a cheap trick to get the listener to believe that the quality of this peach is parallel to that of Mr. Lincoln's

. Literature is the immortal part of history; it is the best and most enduring part of personality. But book-friends have this advantage over living friends; you can enjoy the most truly aristocratic society in the world whenever you want it. The great dead are beyond our physical reach, and the great living are usually almost as inaccessible; as for our personal friends and acquaintances, we cannot always see them. Perchance they are asleep, or away on a journey. But in a private library, you can at any moment converse with Socrates Socrates: 470?–399 B.C. Greek philosopher or Shakespeare William Shakespeare: 1564–1616 English dramatist and poet or Carlyle Thomas Carlyle: 1795–1881 Scottish essayist and historian or Dumas Alexandre Dumas: 1802–1879 French novelist and dramatist or Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens: 1812–1870 English novelist or Shaw George Bernard Shaw: 1856–1950 British author and socialist or Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie: 1860–1937 Scottish novelist and dramatist or Galsworthy John Galsworthy: 1867–1933 English novelist and dramatist . And there is no doubt that in these books you see these men at their best. They wrote for you. They "laid themselves out," they did their ultimate best to entertain you, to make a favorable impression. You are necessary to them as an audience is to an actor; only instead of seeing them masked, you look into their innermost heart of heart.

For four decades, William Lyon Phelps was a noted Professor of English literature at Yale University. During these years he became a distinguished lecturer, author, literary critic, as well as an ordained minister. Upon his retirement from Yale at the age of 68, Professor Phelps and his wife, Annabel, retired to their beloved country home, Seven Gables in Huron City, Michigan. Retirement was a new beginning for Professor Phelps. He spent his time lecturing publicly, giving radio talks, and writing a daily newspaper column about books and authors. As he was an ordained minister, he preached a series of Sunday sermons during the summer at the Huron City Church. These summer sermons drew crowds sometimes numbering a thousand souls. During the winter months he presented a 20 week lecture course in Literature. Professor Phelps participated in committees, such as the Pulitzer Prize Committee for Literature, and he also was the guest speaker at a numerous university commencements. Dr. Phelps had an avid interest in sports. He had a tennis court built at Seven Gables and a private 18-hole golf course. He also coached a baseball team.