One of the most striking things Ricks documents is that the founders read differently from how most modern leaders read. They were not consuming information or collecting ideas. They were in dialogue with texts — arguing, annotating, applying. Jefferson's books were full of his handwriting. Adams wrote long letters debating the ideas he was reading. Madison took systematic notes specifically to extract structural insights from historical material. They were using reading as a practice of intellectual formation — becoming different thinkers through sustained engagement with demanding texts. This is distinct from reading for information, which produces facts, or reading for inspiration, which produces motivation. Reading for formation produces a different mind — one with a richer vocabulary for complexity, a longer view of how things develop, and a more robust set of frameworks for making difficult decisions.