Discard the rest.

Until, of course, a later time when the things you have discarded end up being useful as well. It all depends on where you’re at and what you need at the moment.

And in some cases, what was once useful is now something that can be completely discarded.

I often fall victim to looking towards the next best thing instead of going back to what has already been. The joke among magicians is if you want to show something new, go read an old book and present it with modern dressings. It’s also the reason almost all magic tricks are just slight variations on the same principles that have been around forever.

Using what is useful and discarding rest… for now… absolves you from having to take it all in at once while setting a promise to revisit sometime later when needed. It forces you to absorb wisdom with the addition of gained life experience.

This addition of time and new perspective is the also reason you can never read the same book twice. Despite my inane desire to read everything the world, it can be useful to revisit completed titles to see what was missed the previous time around.

But in all things, regardless of how many times it has been visited, just use what is useful for now.

There is no obligation to take the rest.