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In Praise of Public Libraries

An encomium celebrating the vital role of public libraries in democratic societies.

status: Notes

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certainty: likely

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importance: 6/10

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Citation
Yotam, Kris · Apr 2025

Yotam, Kris. (Apr 2025). In Praise of Public Libraries. krisyotam.com. https://krisyotam.com/progymnasmata/encomium/in-praise-of-public-libraries

@article{yotam2025in-praise-of-public-libraries,
  title   = "In Praise of Public Libraries",
  author  = "Yotam, Kris",
  journal = "krisyotam.com",
  year    = "2025",
  month   = "Apr",
  url     = "https://krisyotam.com/progymnasmata/encomium/in-praise-of-public-libraries"
}
Quote of the moment
When I first came there, I found two other pupils of mine own age newly arrived, Hakim Omar Khayyam, and the ill-fated Ben Sabbah. Both were endowed with sharpness of wit and the highest natural powers; and we three formed a close friendship together. When the Imam rose from his lectures, they used to join me, and we repeated to each other the lessons we had heard. Now Omar was a native of Naishapur, while Hasan Ben Sabbah’s father was one Ali, a man of austere life and practice, but heretical in his creed and doctrine. One day Hasan said to me and to Khayyam, “It is a universal belief that the pupils of the Imam Mowaffak will attain to fortune. Now, even if we all do not attain thereto, without doubt one of us will, what then shall be our mutual pledge and bond?” We answered, “Be it what you please.”— “Well”, he said, “let us make a vow, that to whomsoever this fortune falls, he shall share it equally with the rest, and reserve no pre-eminence for himself.”—“Be it so”, we both replied. …The Vizier was generous and kept his word. Hasan demanded a place in the government, which the Sultan granted at the Vizier’s request; but, discontented with a gradual rise, he plunged into the maze of intrigue of an Oriental court, and, failing in a base attempt to supplant his benefactor, he was disgraced and fell…One of the countless victims of the Assassin’s dagger was Nizam ul Mulk himself, the old school-boy friend. …Omar Khayyam also came to the Vizier to claim his share; but not to ask for title or office. “The greatest boon you can confer on me”, he said, “is to let me live in a corner under the shadow of your fortune, to spread wide the advantages of Science, and pray for your long life and prosperity.” The Vizier tells us, that, when he found Omar was really sincere in his refusal, he pressed him no further, but granted him a yearly pension of 1,200 mithkals…At Naishapur thus lived and died Omar Khayyam, “busied”, adds the Vizier, “in winning knowledge of every kind, and especially in Astronomy, wherein he attained to a very high pre-eminence. Under the Sultanate of Malik Shah he came to Merv, and obtained great praise for his proficiency in science, and the Sultan showered favours upon him.”
‘Omar Khayyam: The Astronomer-Poet Of Persia’, Edward Fitzgerald (Rubaiyat)
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Kris Yotam
Kris Yotam
long-form stable essays
Updated
2026-05-12
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~1s

in Naperville, IL
Last visitor from Mitaka, Japan