In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.
Unlike many of my contemporaries, I never write books for my fellow professors to read. I have no interest in the academic audience at all. I'm interested in Joe Doakes. A general audience can read any book I write – and they do.
You can't be a philosopher and an activist. If you do, you get all mixed up.
The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.