26 Jan 2026 · 33 min
Liam Applegate draws twelve principles from C.S. Lewis's essay on reading, arguing that modern readers chase speed and volume while missing Lewis's core insight: reading lets you become "a thousand men" while staying yourself. The real measure is how many books change you, not how many you finish.
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Most conversations about reading today are about speed, volume, or productivity. How many books a year? How fast can you finish one book? C.S. Lewis thought this entire approach missed the point. For Lewis, reading was not a skill to optimize, it was a way of being human. He opens with one of the most profound lines ever written on why we read: We want to see with others' eyes, to imagine with other imaginations, to feel with others' hearts. As well as with our own. That single sentence contains Lewis's entire philosophy: reading is the expansion of consciousness. I read C.S. Lewis's book on reading, um, The Life of a Reader, and really the idea behind this whole episode is becoming a thousand men without ceasing to be yourself. And I'll go into that as we go into this episode. But the whole idea behind this is that I wanted to read C.S. Lewis's book on reading because there's a lot of books, um, that I'm going to be reading over this year. And so I want to start off this year with a book on reading. So I wanted to figure out just what would be the best tips and tricks, um, kind of what are the— what is the philosophy on reading. And C.S. Lewis wrote Narnia, which has sold millions and millions of copies, up there with The Hobbit, and, you know, made— you know, movies are made on it and all this stuff. But, uh, it's really good, and I read the book, really great. And so I want to go through 12 different types of ideas, or kind of maxims in a sense, or just key themes throughout the book that I saw that really just show Lewis's philosophy and actually are not really that common in the world today, but are really good to kind of refresh your mindset on why we read and just the ideas behind reading and like why we read, what should we be reading, what is the goal of reading. So it is really interesting. I think it, it is a really interesting book and it's something that people should be doing more of. It shouldn't be a hobby, it should be everyone needs to be reading. And I truly believe that after reading this book. So he goes into the first one, which is reading as an escape from the prison of yourself. And what he means by that is Lewis believed the greatest limitation of any human life is its narrowness. You are born into one body at one time, at one culture with one set of experiences. And how do you, how do you grow that set of experiences? Without books, you can't really do that. So that— this is why Lewis said the true aim of literary studies is by making the person the spectator, he can observe time and existence. Reading allows us to stand outside of our own century, our own assumptions, and our own blind spots. But yet here is the paradox, and this does not erase individuality. So you may be thinking, well So if I start reading this, this, and this, you know, I'm becoming like everyone else, or I'm becoming like, um, the people I'm reading about. And in a sense, yes, but Lewis explains, literary experience heals the wound without undermining the privilege of individuality. Reading great literature, he becomes a thousand men and yet remains himself. And I love that line, you become a thousand men, you yet remain yourself. And the thing is, you do not lose yourself in great books. Your mind is enlarged and grown after you read. So when I read about Spielberg, it's almost like I've entered into his life. I'm actually doing my next book on Spielberg. I might have another episode come out before that, but I want to do Spielberg. And so the whole idea behind it is that you're going into his life, his mind, in the 1960s, 1970s, whenever he was born, and you're really immersing yourself into that and into that culture. You can be reading more books. You could read a book on MLK. You could read a book about C.S. Lewis. You could read a book about anyone in culture— Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, anyone. And in that sense, you're almost stepping outside of yourself and going into, um, you're becoming more people than you would be if you didn't read a book. And so this is why I would argue reading is the most important thing you can do in your life, whether that's, um, for your, you know, spiritually, whether that's just for your mental side, um, or physically, whatever you're doing, reading can help you in any part of your life. The thing is, and this is something I find a really— I have a really hard time with doing, is just sitting down and reading. And so that's why I've committed my life to be just a learner. If you just do that one thing where you just commit yourself to learning, what does that mean? Well, 1% better every single day. Diary of a CEO, Atomic Habits, James Clear. He talks about that where it's 1% better every single day. So what does that mean? Well, that means that it doesn't mean you need to sit down and read a page every day. Like, yes, that's optimal and that would be the best. But, you know, whether you can't get to a book, maybe it's listening to an audiobook or podcast, whatever you're doing, doing to increase your learning, that is where you want to be. So that is the true— that's what I've tried to do. But I've also tried to push myself on the other side of like reading every weekend, reading at lunch, reading at certain times to where you can really push yourself to be better. Because last year I hit close to 40 books. and it felt like I was trying a little bit, but it was my first year and this year I can really push myself. So reading, I, I'm at 4 books for the month of January 2026, and I want to hit around 7 by the end. And if you just kept that consistent pace, you'd be at 96. And that's just if you're doing that. So that's listening to books, that's reading them, skim reading them, whatever you're doing. Just reading it and really taking in and absorbing. But it doesn't even matter about how many books you read, it's how many books can get through to you. So the second one is the dividing line: who rereads and who doesn't. So, Luke, this is a really interesting idea because I've always thought rereading is just a natural thing. If you really like something, you're going to reread it. And David Sinner does this on the Founders Podcast. He will reread books that are really good. He'll go through the first time. If he finds them interesting, does a podcast episode on it. But if he wants to, he'll reread it for a future episode. So Lewis draws a sharp line between the many and the few. He observes that the majority never read anything twice. And I thought this was really interesting because the— I didn't, I didn't think that. I thought everyone just rereads a book that they really love. And I'm assuming Lewis is right when he says this, but it is really interesting. I think that people should be rereading stuff. And this is really funny, this next quote's really funny. He says, the sure mark of an unliterary man is that he considers 'I've already read it,' 'I've read it already,' to be a conclusive argument against reading a work. So when he thinks, 'I've already read that,' he doesn't want to read it again. And that's just really interesting because to Lewis, rereading is not optional. It's a mark of seriousness and really maturity to sit down and read it again or listen to it again, to really absorb it and take it in. And those who— great— those who read great works, um, Lewis says that they'll read the same book or work 10, 20, or even 30 times during the course of their life. And it begs the question, why? It's because the book is not done in one reading. And the— this is an idea from David Sinner where I first heard this, is that because you are not the same reader that you were 10 years ago. So if you read the fir— if you read the book 10 years ago and you go back to read it, it's because you're different. It's because you've changed. It's because you've gotten more experience. So you shouldn't just get a book, be done with it, and then you're done forever. You should go back, and if it's a really good book, revisit it. And so Lewis even suggested a rule for this. He said, clearly one must read every good book at least once every 10 years. So for me, in my mind, that's a good, like, mind marker. As if I really like this book, all right, I'm going to go reread it, um, within the next 10 years. So it's just a really good idea. Um, I'm already coming up on like a year and a half, um, from reading the Elon Musk book by Walter Isaacson. That one's really good. I would reread that in the next couple years. So there's certain books that you get accustomed to, and not every book is going to be your style, but if you find a really good book, just reread it. Be— and especially in the future, you shouldn't ever be just done with something because you're done or because they didn't make any more books. It's because you're not the same reader as you were 10 years ago, and it's just a good reminder. So the next one is reading is not a last resort, and this is something I need to get better at. Um, Lewis noticed something subtle but important. Many people read frequently, but they do not value reading. They turn it— they turn to it as a last resource, um, or resource, any, any way you say that. Reading becomes what you do when nothing else is available. And the thing is, he says, but literary people behave differently. They hunt for the silence, they guard leisure, they give books their full attention. Lewis writes that when they are denied attentive reading for even just a few days, they feel impoverished. For them, reading is nourishment, not distraction. So I find this really interesting. Whenever I can sit down and read, I will. There are times where it's just the full Goggins mode where, you know, your mind is telling you, oh no, like, you shouldn't read. You like, there's other things to do. You could watch a movie, you could watch a TV show, you could do all these other things, but you shouldn't read. And for me, it's like getting accustomed to, no, reading is actually really good and just sitting down and going through a really good book. That's where I need to train myself. So when I listen to this episode in the future, which I listen to every episode and especially going back through these episodes, I just want to remind myself that you need to just be sitting down and reading through it, like read frequently, but don't like really just value reading. And so this is for anyone listening to this, value reading. Value— just read frequently, value reading. I love listening to audiobooks. I read, frankly, every day because it's amazing. And it— I, I— the way that I would put it is reading has saved my life, and it's by what I read that has saved my life. So whether that's through the books I'm reading, um, and just in general, I couldn't do life without reading. I couldn't do life without getting that experience. And, um, truly it's amazing, um, that we have books, and it's amazing. So the thing is, I love what Lewis says though. They feel impoverished. Like, you— like, if you were denied— that would just be a good exercise. If you were denied reading for just a few days, do you feel impoverished, or do you feel like, oh, I need to go get a book, or I need to go do this? Make it feel like that. And this doesn't have to be, you know, you're a reader, you're not a reader. Train yourself to be like this. Train yourself to be like this. Okay, so number 4: when books change your inner landscape. So Lewis believes some books do not merely inform you, they should alter you. He writes, the first reading of some literary work is often an experience so momentous that only experiences of love religion, or bereavement can furnish a standard of comparison. And I— it's a funny quote, but it's— it truly sums up what it means to read a great work of art. Books are a work of art. And when you first sit down— so this is, this is funny, but this is me going into like book mode— when you first sit down and read a book, like, um, I could, I could just imagine like you open up like a kid's book, right? And you're reading it and you're just so fascinated and you can't put the pages down, you can't put the book down, and you can't stop flipping the pages and you're just reading. Like, that's how it should feel. You should feel— Naval has this great quote. He says, he says, read what you love until you learn how to love— or read what you love until you love to read. So his idea is that you should be reading what you love to read until you learn how to love to read books. So when you're reading, like, if fantasy is your, like, genre, and that's just like you pick up a book and finish it instantly, that's what you should start with. And then read enough of those to where you can actually expand and say, well, I want to read business books, or I want to read biographies, or I want to read something that's harder and more challenging but better for me as a person. And that's where you should go, because that, um, it's the essence of this. So when Lewis talks about the first reading of a book, it's kind of in the same thought where it's like it should change you. So he says, after such a book, their whole consciousness is changed. They have become what they were not before. It's amazing. It's that whole idea of going back to, you know, like a thousand men. You're becoming a thousand men in, you know, a thousand books in a way. So it's amazing. And then he says, um, and this really explains why serious readers talk about their books constantly. I love that he says this. He says What they have read is constantly and prominently present to the mind of the few. They talk to one another about books often and at length. I find myself like, oh, I'm reading the Spielberg book and I'll go, you know, sit down with someone and I'll just talk to them about it. And it's because I love— well, first of all, it's like you should just love what you're reading and it should just like constantly be there, like at the forefront of your mind, especially after reading it. But when people talk to you about it, You're still like, you're still processing it. It's like a good movie or a good, you know, TV show. And I love this quote, or not, it's not even a quote, but something that I wrote when I was doing this. It says, "The books are still working on them." The books are still working on you. So when you read a good book, the books are still working on you, the reader, right? And that's what you want. You want the book to change the way you think. It should alter the way you think. It should change you for the betterment of you, or the other way, it should change you to be more aware of something you weren't aware of. So it should be better for you and it should give you more experience in an area that you don't have a lot of experience in or that you're trying to learn more about. Now, the fifth one is learning to love the bodies of books and This is hilarious, and I really relate to this because Lewis loved the physical presence of a book, and I actually don't disagree at all. I love hardcover or paperback. Choose which one you want. I like hardcover probably a little bit better, but it's just the, the book, right? You have the book and people can get Kindles and they can travel with it and have 100 books on a Kindle. That's great. But the thing is, Lewis says, the setup of the page, the feel and the smell of the paper, the differing sounds that different papers make as you turn the leaves become sensuous delights. I love that because I mean, this is going to be weird, but like, yeah, feeling the paper, there's actually different textures on paper. So the way they— there's like books that look older because the way they cut the paper versus nice new clean books. If the book smells like brand new, it's really funny, but I actually relate to this a lot. And pages, like opening a brand new book is something that you just— I'm almost addicted to buying books because it's— they're just amazing. But I would spend— if someone gave me $1,000 right now or today, I would probably— and they were like, hey, you have— you can do anything with it. I guarantee you I would probably buy like just all books, but The, the funny thing is, like, I love that he, he is so attentive to the details of the book, and it truly shows you what it means to love a book, you know, the physical. And this was before they had Kindle, and this was before they had all the digital stuff, which I do like digital stuff, but the fact that you have this and he's talking about this even then, and I'm relating to it even before he said this I, I was just shocked that he put this in there. I was like, oh my goodness, Lewis knows what he's talking about when he's like just about books in general. So it is really interesting, and you know, you don't have to be like that, but it's just a funny thing I noticed when I was reading this because I like definitely relate with that. So the sixth is about story and just kind of, um, critics in today's literary society. So Lewis pushed back against literary snobbery. He noticed that when people talk about mere storybooks, they assume excitement is the only pleasure they ever give or intended to give. This is false. Stories educate the emotions. They train imagination. They prepare us for reality. Why do you think, like, when I'm reading a biography or reading something on Spielberg, even if it's, if it's nonfiction, it's still a story about someone. Someone living, and so it's a true story. But then you even go to novels or stories that, you know, are fantasy or fiction or whatever, and they might not be true, but they might present true things within it. And so Lewis openly defended light reading, which he would call this light reading, for a great deal of our literature was made to be read lightly for entertainment. He said not all, but which is interesting. And I try to lean heavily more into the not all literature where I try to do mostly heavy reading. So like biographies, listening to like stuff that's pretty dense, and I've just gotten used to that. But for people, it's again, it's the Naval quote, like read what you love until you love to read. So for most people, that is where you're going to want to start. The 7th thing is Um, Lewis issuing a warning, and this is really interesting because he says really interesting things. He says books— well, this is the idea of it— books are not the final destination. This is really interesting. He's talking about books and music in this, but the books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them. And it, it's really interesting. Well, why? It was not in them, it only came through them. And what came through them was longing. When you, when you read that, it kind of registers the beauty is not in the book, it's not in the physical, um, it's not in the printed words or the paper or the hardcover or the COVID but it's what's coming, the story through the words. And it's a good reminder that, you know, the beauty is not necessarily in the book. You can't say, well, it's in this, it's in the story, it's in the deeper meaning behind it, the humanity of the story, whether it's in a fairy tale or whether it's in a biography, right? And it's just a really interesting way of thinking about it because it is true. It's like when you think about it, the ideas is that the— or the idea is that the beauty is not in the book, it's coming through the book. And I love that because if you get so caught up in that and if you start trusting it, it will betray you. So the next one is number 8, and originality arrives sideways. This is kind of the idea. Lewis's advice on originality is brutal and freeing in a sense. He says, no man Who values originality will ever be original. And when you think about this, when you're looking at Lewis and he's writing Narnia, he's taking most of his— most of the stuff that he wrote for Narnia is coming from like mythologies of different things. You look at people like James Dyson or a lot of these founders of companies, they are taking ideas. So Sam Walton took an idea from, uh, uh, the guy that started Sam's Club, I believe, or this haircutting place. Where basically the idea was the same as Walmart. That guy also was copied by the founder of Costco. So all these people have the same ideas, but they're just taking each other's ideas. And it's really interesting to see. So I love when he says this because I think Lewis is correct. No man who values originality will ever be original. And he says instead, try to tell the truth as you see it. Try to do any bit of work as well as it can be done for the work's sake. So this really emphasizes that originality appears as a byproduct of sincerity and excellence. And when you look further into that idea, the idea is that you're not— there's going to be truth out in the world, right? There's always going to be— you're always going to try to be original. But you're never going to be because someone has that idea. So it's okay to borrow or use someone else's idea and use it in a different way. It's not illegal, it's not wrong. But if you use it, like, if you use it and you're doing the same thing exactly the same way, that's not authentic in any sense. But if you're doing it in a way that is authentic, that's okay. So try to do any bit of work as well as it can be done for the works sake. Now the next one is number 9, and the interesting thing about this is I don't know if I really agree with this, and I don't know if I'm really going to use this, but for you guys who want to be reading, uh, this is something that Lewis really emphasizes. I know Naval emphasizes it, so it's okay to do it. Um, I just like reading my books all the way through, but he says read after— read actively, skip freely. So his idea is that he's giving permission to readers, um, just, um, in an idea that he says it is a very silly idea that in a reading— in reading a book, you must never skip. And this reinforces Lewis's belief that reading is a conversation, and when the conversation ends, there is nothing so nice as discussing it with someone else. And it's the same idea from Naval. Naval emphasizes that reading a book isn't a race, which I actually agree with. The better the book, the more slowly it should be absorbed, and that you should follow your intellectual curiosity more than whatever is hot right now. He also skips around freely, and most of the time he skims the book. So I heard Naval on a podcast with Chris Williamson, and I listened to it, and he was talking about how he'll go through like, you know, 100 books in a year. But what he does is he'll literally go through a book and he'll skim read like the beginning of each chapter or something like that. And their idea is that Lewis and Naval is that there you can basically read and skim read and skip around however you need to, um, as long as you're getting stuff out of it. And if you're really getting stuff out of it, then you should really slow down. For me, I'm doing the podcast and I really want to go through every single idea and find great books. So for me, I go through and I'm very, um, adamant about finishing something. So if I start something, I'm going to finish it no matter how hard it is or no matter how brutal it is. Eventually, even if it takes months and months to get back to it, I will finish it and be done with it and count it as like— because I have a tracker for how many books I read. So I am making sure that I get it done. But for anyone that has trouble with this, like starting a book and then they don't want to start something else because they know they need to finish it, that's just, you know, you can have a couple books on retainer where you read one and read two and read three all at the same time. And you're just reading a couple of pages here, a couple pages there. So there's different ways you can do it, but feel free to skip around if you want to and read actively. That's the key idea. So the next one, and this is number 10, this is Lewis on writing. And this is because reading and writing are linked. And Lewis— and just a real quick thing to give a preface on this The reason why this is important for someone that reads a lot of books and for anyone that wants to start reading a lot of books or who is already reading books, this is important because this is more of like, this is a legendary author. His style is important. So what he's talking about with writing for great authors, this is how you know whether a book is good or not. So he, Lewis believed style was a form of clarity. Style. He said this: Style is the art of expressing a given thought in the most beautiful words and rhythm of words. So good writing begins with precision of thought. He says the way for a person to develop a style is to know exactly what he wants to say and to be sure he is saying exactly that. And then he also goes on to say, ambiguity is betrayal. So he says, if our words are ambiguous, our meaning will escape the reader. And this is really interesting because when someone doesn't know what you're saying, the reader doesn't know. So when I'm reading something, if I see something's like a little bit ambiguous or I don't understand it, the author is clearly not doing a good job, or he's trying to tie it in later to the story. Um, so if it's like a mystery story or something like that and he reveals it at the end, that's totally different. But Lewis— this is a really interesting observation from a legendary writer. Lewis compared writing to herding sheep. This is really funny. If there is any gate open to the left or the right, the reader will most certainly go into it. So he's basically saying that if you don't direct the reader into which way you want them to go, they will go where you haven't put parameters up. Which is really funny. So good writing closes those gates. Real interesting insights into— these are just really interesting insights into what a good reader is like. And this is really how to know if you're reading a good or great book. The 11th kind of part of this is the invisible craft of reading. And this is hilarious, and I love this because it's so true. Lewis compared good reading to a good shoe. A good shoe is a shoe that you don't notice. He says a good shoe is a shoe you don't notice. It's funny because it's true. The— when you look at it, when you're reading a book, he— you know, you're reading a book, you're not going to notice that all these other things. And he says good reading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about eyes or light or print. So you're not thinking about how small the print is or how big it is, um, like your eyes, like is the lighting good or bad, like all this stuff. And it makes a lot of sense because it's true. And it's really funny because like, again, a good shoe is a shoe that you don't notice. You might not notice a book is good until you read a bad book and you realize, you know, you're having problems with the light or all that stuff. So it's really interesting and really funny and good. I really like that insight on reading. Um, the last one, number 12: Lewis, the man who reads. Um, William Epson called Lewis the best read man of his generation. Lewis would read 7 or 8 hours a day. He remembered nearly everything. He wrote in margins and he indexed his books, so he would go to the beginning And if he really liked the book, he would go through all these different chapters and like index it. And then he wrote in the margins and he remembered pretty much all of it. He would read 7 or 8 hours a day. I actually have the schedule. I didn't put it on my notes, but he would— his ideal day was that he would go basically like 3 hours for reading. He would have lunch, then he would do another 3 hours, then he would have tea, then he would do another 3 hours or end it with like 2 hours at night. So he was just like a machine with reading. And he was really good about this. And so it is really interesting to hear from someone that just was absorbed in books. And Mortimer Adler summarized the philosophy as the point is not to see how many books you can get through, but how many can get through to you. Let me just say it again because it's just so good. The point is not to see how many books you can get through, 'But how many can get through to you?' It's a truly genius quote, and he's, you know, having fun with words and playing around with it. But it's true because it's not how many— like, it's not if you hit 100 books in the year, 50 books, or even 20 books, or however many books you read. It's how many can actually alter or change your life. And for Lewis, reading was both a high calling and an endless source of satisfaction. So he loved reading, but not only did he love it and he found joy from it, but he also found it as like a higher calling, like this was something he needed to do. And so this is something to aspire to and a good reminder that the book count doesn't matter as much as it can change your life. And this is something big for me because, you know, I, I'm like, I want to hit the book count. I want to make myself better. I want to do all these things. And that's important. But also the other important part is just absorbing the information, distilling it down, giving it to you guys. You can distill it. You can decide whether or not you want to buy the book. You buy the book, you find it changed your life. You find that it changes your life. And so my goal is to be learning this because like Naval said, in order to learn, you have to be able to teach it. And so when I'm— he said something like, when you're learning it, the idea is like, if you learn it and you know it really well, you're able to teach it. So my philosophy with this podcast is that when I'm learning with this podcast, I'm just absorbing everything in. I'm able to reinforce that because I listen to the podcast episode. So that's relearning it. Then I'm teaching it all the information that I've gotten. Through to you guys again. So that's like 3 times going through this content, publishing it, listening to it, all that stuff. So I'm listening to this like 3 different times by saying it, reading it, all this different stuff. So it's going through multiple times in my mind to really cement it down in my mind. So then I'm giving it to you guys in the podcast. So that is why I'm doing this and why I'm really trying to cement what I'm learning in my mind. But then I'm also benefiting you guys who are listening to this. So why this still matters, why reading still matters, and perhaps this is the highest function of reading. It's to step outside of yourself, to become a thousand men and return finally more fully yourself. That's all I have for today's episode. Lewis Um, his book is amazing on reading, really short book, really small book. Um, looks amazing. I'll leave a link down in the, um, description. So go check it out if you want to order the book. Um, you'll be supporting the podcast if you do. Thank you for listening to this, and I'll talk to you guys again soon.
