But also, who knows if it is true? And why only books and not everything we have done in life? And why should Ralph Waldo Emerson, assuming the quote is his, know more about this than anyone else?
The hours of history classes in elementary, middle, and high school, when we discussed the Roman Republic and the Empire and before that the Egyptians and the Assyrians and memorized the names, perhaps formed and made us, even if we do not remember a single date, only the names of Cleopatra and Caesar, and we could not find the location of Carthage even if our lives depended on it. Or maybe they did nothing to most of us, which is the more parsimonious view.
When I was a child, a whole debate emerged about the risk of developing a violent personality after watching movies and reading comic books in which violence and gore were shown quite freely. As far as I know, this development of a dangerous, antisocial personality never happened, because, dare I say it, we can distinguish fact from fiction, and everything we ingest, food or media, is modulated by our history, family, genetics, culture, and friends and enemies.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson