Does literature affect the lifestyle of a person and an entire nation? Yes, definitely. Our way of life, our speech, our culture are determined by the books that we let into our lives. To paraphrase a classic: "Tell me what you read, and I will tell you who you are."
People who enjoy only "cheap", mindlessly written texts, who do not want to take any other, more serious literature in their hands, are usually limited in their thinking. They are distinguished by a narrow view of the world. They are easy to manipulate. They will "dance to someone else's tune," without thinking of the actions they have committed, and faithfully believing that they have an "indulgence" on all the evil deeds they have committed.
The more developed a person is, the deeper his spiritual life, the more refined his literary requests. Such a reader not only absorbs texts, but also ponders deeply into what he reads, carefully tries to feel and understand all that the author wanted to say. That is why a good book must be taught from childhood. It is necessary to carefully select the reading circle of your child, explain in detail the actions performed by the heroes from the moral point of view, monitor the quality of reading: try to help the child fully understand each book he read.
In the modern world, the world of graphomanes, there is a desacralization of literature: with the advent of access to the worldwide network, even those who have never taken a single volume of classics into their hands have declared themselves to be writers and poets. Their works flooded the Internet, and they themselves began to claim the title of "foremen", "owners of thoughts." Such "literature" - although it would be more correct to say "low-grade texts" - leads astray and leads away the minds of teenagers who have not yet become stronger, not allowing them to develop taste. Modern idols of young people in their general mass are vulgar and stupid, but the bad taste prevents their connoisseurs from seeing it.
Each book must be approached critically. No mentally normal person will keep their doors open to all comers. But for some reason we calmly let the first books in our lives, read the texts, assimilating various information, and often even fall under the influence of one or another author. If the reader has already formed a taste and a certain attitude towards life, the harm from such reading will be little. But those who are not used to or do not like to read, do not know how to assimilate information and "separate the wheat from the chaff," can easily be influenced by what is written. And well, if the text is just useless, empty. Worse, when it is filled with malicious ideas that can embarrass immature minds. This is how sects are born, fascism appears.
Need to read. Moreover, it is necessary to read. But each unknown author must be treated with a share of criticism, not taking on faith all his conclusions. So, reading culture, as mentioned above, must be taught from childhood. Only in this case, possible qualitative changes in our society and in life in general. After all, most often it is consciousness that determines being.