How Rev. John Ames got his Reputation for Wisdom

I've developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by far than I learned anything useful from, except of course, that some very tedious gentlemen have written books.

This is not a new insight, but the truth of it is something you have to experience to fully grasp. 

—Rev. John Ames in Marilynne Robinson, Gilead: A Novel, 39.