Wanted: Connoisseurs

Connoisseur—one who understands the details, technique, or principles of an art and is competent to act as a critical judge—one who enjoys with discrimination and appreciation of subtleties.

When speaking of connoisseurs we generally think of gourmets, food, wine, wealth, gout and diabetics. I want to add something new to your connotations—I want to talk about ‘connoisseurs of words’.

To become a person who enjoys the discrimination and appreciation of the subtleties of words and thus of reality one needs to become a reader of books. Don’t run away—this may be more pleasant and less painful than you think.

To become wise of the world, to become a connoisseur of words, it is advisable to be a card carrying member of a large library. Many small city libraries do not fully qualify but most people are close to a small college that has a relatively large library. Most college libraries have a ‘Friends of the Library’ card that is available to any state citizen for a small yearly fee of like $25.

Becoming a card carrying member of the ‘connoisseur of words’ club is easy, delightful, inexpensive, and profoundly interesting; and occasionally, as Carl Sagan said, “understanding is a kind of ecstasy”.

There are other ways to discover the nature of reality beyond the superficial but reading books is one of the easiest and best, in my judgment. One cannot comprehend the depths of reality without comprehending the words that communicate that depth and one cannot comprehend the words without reading books of quality. Pulp fiction does not qualify as being books of quality.