Reading is like setting out on an adventure: you can travel in every direction and get to know new people and places, you can actually travel through time!

Books lead us to foreign lands where we can meet many extraordinary characters, even some life mentors who may help us find the answers to our biggest questions.

A good book gives us the chance to enter into the writer’s mind and grasp his way of thinking, of looking at things in life.

By reading his words, we share the author’s emotions and we experience his imagination, making it our own.

So powerful is the act of reading that it allows us to get a much deeper comprehension of the human nature and spirit, of the mysteries of life and death in every age and every part of the world, and therefore enables us to make much more informed and thoughtful choices.

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Patrick J. de Vries，Head of the Press, Public Diplomacy and Cultural Department

World Book Day is a valuable celebration of the book and of reading in general. In an increasingly fast and media ridden world, books are still the gateway to true knowledge, and this indeed should be celebrated. Books also encourage to think out of the box and reading provides incentives for creativity. May you all be insprired!

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