Reading is essentially a method of plundering wealth.

Of course, I'm not talking about directly stealing someone's money. Rather, you're acquiring at a very low cost the experience that others accumulated over many years through trial and error and costly lessons. You're taking it directly for your own use.

What one person learned from hitting rock bottom for ten years might be condensed into a book available for purchase everywhere. You spend a few dozen dollars to buy it back, finish it in a few days, and essentially compress ten years of someone else's knowledge into your own brain. This in itself is an extremely cost-effective form of information plundering.

Why do some people become more capable the more they read? It's not because books will make you money. Rather, through reading, they're taking in advance the rules, methods, perspectives, and judgment that others have developed. Once these things enter your brain, they gradually become advantages in everything you do afterward—whether it's accomplishing tasks, making money, or assessing people.