Shun the spawn of the press or the gossip of the hour....

The three practical rules I have to offer are these:--1.

Never read a book that is not a year old; 2.

Never read any but famed books; 3.

Never read any but what you like." Lord Lytton's maxim is: "In science, read by preference the newest books; in literature, the oldest."] [Footnote 193: A friend of Sir Walter Scott, who had the same habit, and prided himself on his powers of conversation, one day tried to "draw out" a fellow-passenger who sat beside him on the outside of a coach, but with indifferent success.