Why do I read?

Why do I read? I read for, more or less the same reasons we as a race of Humans read. Out of boredom to be entertained by the realm of the past or a flight of fantasy. Or to at times learn of the way things once were, to understand the past and it's countless flaws and apply them to solve the errs of today or even tomorrow. Because I too am a writer and not just a reader when I read it may not be to entertain or to learn in traditional ways but to leech from others who have coated pages in ink, it isn't the nicest of terms but it's the most truthful one. To learn from reading is to merely absorb the information and swallow it without any real-world application, we learn from reading textbooks and news articles things we are often mandated to read. But what we leech, what we truly feast and gorge our minds on are books and articles of art that fill us with new ideas and concepts our minds alone could never have explored without this outside intervention, and to say we do not use the works of other to our advantage when we write in our own words is a heinous fallacy. As a race we consume and grow in all we do as is the way of humanity, and so to is it true in writing and reading. To pluck the best words and thoughts, the most interesting concepts and details from the works of others to attempt to amalgamate a story of worth is the busy work of all writers and is what an avid reader will expect of an piece they're reading. Why do I read? I read to become a better writer, a more knowledgeable person, and to expand my mind to where it could never have possibly gone alone.