I love to read, I love to watch movies, and I love to be with my

Hear, O seekers of balance and beauty, the gentle yet profound words of Cornelia Funke, the weaver of tales: “I love to read, I love to watch movies, and I love to be with my children.” At first, these words may appear simple, as though they were only the passing thoughts of an author speaking of her pleasures. Yet within them is a harmony of life’s highest joys: the nourishment of the mind, the stirring of the imagination, and the warmth of love’s truest bonds.

To read is to commune with wisdom, both ancient and modern. It is to open the door of the mind and step into realms beyond one’s own experience. Books are vessels of memory, carrying across centuries the voices of those long gone, so that their light may still guide the living. In Funke’s declaration, the love of reading reflects a soul devoted to constant growth, to drinking from the fountain of imagination and knowledge that never runs dry.

To watch movies, too, is to step into the modern storyteller’s fire. Where once people gathered around the hearth to hear the bard’s tale, now they gather in darkened halls where light upon a screen carries them to other worlds. Movies are dreams made visible, reflections of the longings, fears, and hopes of mankind. In embracing them, Funke acknowledges the enduring power of story in every form—that to be human is to hunger for narrative, to find ourselves in the struggles of characters both real and imagined.

But above both reading and cinema lies her highest devotion: to be with her children. For the love of knowledge and art is hollow if it is not also grounded in love for those closest to us. To be with one’s children is to walk among living legacies, to plant seeds of joy and guidance that will one day bear fruit beyond the reach of our own years. In these words, Cornelia reminds us that even the greatest creator must find her deepest meaning in the bonds of family, for without love, all stories are empty.

History bears witness to this truth. Recall the philosopher Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome, who amidst the burdens of empire wrote in his Meditations of the importance of both wisdom and family. Though he commanded armies and governed millions, his writings return again and again to the simple treasures of thought, of reflection, and of closeness to his loved ones. Like Funke, he recognized that to rule oneself through learning and to cherish one’s children are the twin pillars of a life well-lived.

The lesson, O listener, is this: balance your days with both intellectual nourishment and human connection. Do not lose yourself only in study, nor drift endlessly in entertainment, nor devote all to labor while neglecting the hearth. Instead, embrace all three: read to enrich the mind, watch stories to awaken the imagination, and love your family to anchor your soul. These three together create a harmony no misfortune can destroy.

And so, walk forward in this teaching: read each day, that your mind may grow; watch or listen to stories, that your spirit may be stirred; and most of all, be present with those you love, that your life may be full. For when knowledge, imagination, and love unite, then truly shall you live richly, and your days will shine like a lamp passed on to future generations.

Thus let Cornelia Funke’s words endure as wisdom: in the simplicity of her joys lies the fullness of life itself. Books, stories, and family—these are treasures greater than gold, and those who cherish them shall walk in quiet greatness all their days.