It is good to be reminded of the power of reading, especially if we read critically. It's hard to do it these days. We never know wheather what we are reading is even "real".
Kids today may be reading more than we ever read at their age, and yet they know less and are more isolated. The fragments that they browse over the internet and the social media provide pointless entertainment. They rarely assimilate anything.
In our case, we can't even afford books these days, so good bye to good literature.
As for the idea behond this quote
Read and you will lead, do not read and you will be led
I don't think reading per se can do the job. We saw many "readers" at the university level be dragged by the ideological crap of the chavista mediocracy
These days I entered a bookstore and although I was interested in some books, I could not buy anything because they were very expensive. I felt so miserable! It was like going into a jewelry store and craving a ring: incomprehensible to me. As for the importance of reading, with each book they don't give away a brain, the one that doesn't have one, not even if they add water and fertilizer, they will grow one. Greetings, @hlezama
Hahaha. True