Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn.
Source: In The Book of Success, ed. Richard Shea, 1993.
-- Joseph Addison, (May 1 1672-1719), English poet, essayist, playwright; He was a regular contributor to The Tatler (1709-11).