Books cannot be destroyed by fire.
People die, but books never die.
No man and no force can put thought in a concentration camp forever. No man and no force can take from the world the books that embody man's eternal fight against tyranny. In this war, we know, books are weapons.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
During World War II, my grandfather served for a time as chair of the Council on Books in Wartime. From 1942 to 1947, the Council worked with book publishers to produce Armed Services Editions of popular novels which exemplified American ideals (as they were defined at the time), and distribute reading lists and pamphlets, lectures, radio programs and newsreels.
Central to the Council's PR campaign was the slogan "Books are Weapons in the War of Ideas." They understood that burning a book only makes its message that much more powerful.
Later on, many of my grandfather's publishing friends would face the House Committee on Unamerican Affairs. Today's news makes me wonder if we've really made any progress since then, but please do use this imagery to fight the good fight this September 11th. I think it would make my grandfather proud.