Thought for the Week: Books

Ian Kirk-Smith considers words, writing and books

by Ian Kirk-Smith 27th November 2015

This issue of the Friend is devoted to words, writing and books.

Quakers, since the seventeenth century, have had a very close association with the written word. Books, despite a fidelity to the advice to heed ‘the spirit and not the word’, have always been at the heart of the Quaker faith. Friends are highly literate. An appreciation for books has been partly inspired by a desire to seek new ideas and a deep respect for independence of thought and mind.