Surrounding myself with much smarter people

My time here in exile has been interesting.
By "exile" I mean working in a different city than my family lives in. Don't get me wrong - I love the job, the people  I work with, even working here in Mississippi.
During the week I'm in Mississippi, and on weekends - usually - I go home to Birmingham to see The Trophy Wife and The Young Prince.
But during the week, at night, it's just me.

The solitude in the evening has been helpful. It has allowed me time to think, to read, to learn. Above all, to read.
I have lived in two different places here along the coast, and both have been very close to public libraries. Currently I live almost directly across the street from the Gulfport library (next to a McDonald's and a Sonic). It has allowed me to get many books, books of different genre, fiction and non-fiction, essays, whatever. It has taken me awhile to realize I can check out a book and, if I don't like it, don't finish it. You wouldn't believe what a relief that is, because all my life I've always felt compelled to finish a book once I start it.

I find that in reading, I become more self-analytical. Books - all books - add perspective by making me think, prompting my mind to go places where it would not go on its own, unprompted. Books provide valuable insight, reminding us how all of us are different and yet very much alike.
I read somewhere that "Doubtless no man or woman has ever had any experience in life so unique that someone has not been there before." Likewise, I don't think there is a book I've read or a person I've met that hasn't had something worth knowing, if I've only taken the time to "read" (or listen, or ask).
Unexpected revelations occur when you least expect it. C.S. Lewis called it being "surprised by joy,'' those moments when you are overcome by such a wonderful feeling, yet you're not sure why. It's a moment that just feels ... right.
I consider reading the same as surrounding myself with really smart people. I don't always agree with them; some of them change my mind and some don't. Some I've really liked when I first "met" them, then the more I read the more I grow tired of them.
But all of them impact me.

One of the things I do is dog-ear pages where I read something that just seems profound. Like:

"Many of our sorrows can be traced to relationships with the wrong people."

"If a coach cannot stretch an athlete to a higher level, then there is really no need for a coach."

"When faced with a decision, many people say they are waiting for God. But I understand, in many cases, God is waiting for me!''

"Socialism is the end of all invention; it is the happy face of slavery. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves than by compelling each other to live as seems good to the rest."

"Develop the power to ignore what is popular and do what is right."

"Never forget that unjust criticism has no impact whatsoever upon the truth."

"Avoid lazy people. They will only frustrate you, and eventually drag you down."

I keep these - and many more like them - thinking one day I'll use them.

I guess I just did.