Robert Benchley is among my favorite humorists. He once observed, “The world is divided into two groups of people. Those who divide the world into two groups of people and those who don’t.”

I am among those who divide the world into two groups of people: those who seem and those who are.

Some people seem to be wholly preoccupied with impressing others. For them, appearances are everything. They are masters of self-deception who tend to be delusional about their capabilities. They would have you believe they have read the latest bestsellers, for example, perhaps even the great books. So what if most (but certainly not all) of today’s bestsellers will be forgotten within 6-12 months?

Other people are lovers of books. They recognize appearances for what they are: surface rather than substance. For them, only time will determine the value (not the appeal) of bestsellers. They know there really is abundant joy in reading great books for the very reasons that they are. Great books are never out-of-print.

So, the world is divided into two groups of people: those who read and those who only read about.

Seeming is cosmetic…being is organic.