The art of reading, in short, includes all of the same skills that are involved in the art of unaided discovery: keenness of observation, readily available memory, range of imagination, and, of course, an intellect trained in analysis and reflection. The reason for this is that reading in this sense is discovery, too although with help instead of without it.
When you question it, it answers you only to the extent that you do the work of thinking and analysis yourself.
– Mortimer J. Adler
Source: Adler, M.J., Van Doren, C., 1972. How to read a book, Simon and Schuster, New York.