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The 10 commandments of a book lover (infographic)

Ola Kowalczyk ⋮ Published on September 29, 2014

Love for books is a lifelong commitment. It’s even more than that. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “In the highest civilization the book is still the highest delight.”

Writer Brittany Foster has created a very entertaining visual showing book lovers’ addiction in the form of 10 commandments.

I was thinking about how books influence my life, and I came up with some general rules that apply to my reading habits.

Every reader has her own set of commandments to follow. What are yours?

Click or tap on the image to enjoy in its entirety.

The 10 Commandments for a Book Lover
Thou shalt not start with any book in a series other than the first.
Thou shalt not dog-ear pages, crack spines, or cause damage to jackets.
When a character you love dies, thou shalt feel the wound in your deepest of hearts. (Especially if you are reading Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, Games of Thrones, etc.)
Thou shalt defend thine favourite authors with vigour, even if they write a book after the one that you loved that isn’t quite as good.
Thou shalt not, under any circumstance, prefer the movie to the book.
Thou shalt have more book covered surfaces in thine residence than not.
Thou shalt justify money spent on books by claiming that “books are never a waste of money, at least I’m not buying shoes”.
Thou shalt do thine utmost to ensure that if you have a series, they are all the same type and have matching artwork.
Thou shalt feel a pain in thine soul when deciding if you should let someone borrow one of your books.
Thou shalt refuse to remove pages from books to start a fire, even if you are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.