Child! do not throw this book about! <br />Refrain from the unholy pleasure <br />Of cutting all the pictures out! <br />Preserve it as your chiefest treasure. <br /> <br />Child, have you never heard it said <br />That you are heir to all the ages? <br />Why, then, your hands were never made <br />To tear these beautiful thick pages! <br /> <br />Your little hands were made to take <br />The better things and leave the worse ones: <br />They also may be used to shake <br />The Massive Paws of Elder Persons. <br /> <br />And when your prayers complete the day, <br />Darling, your little tiny hands <br />Were also made, I think, to pray <br />For men that lose their fairylands.<br /><br />Hilaire Belloc<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-the-gift-of-a-book-to-a-child/
