Ah, but future generations have the possibility of finding a pristine copy of the book elsewhere, but if you remove their choice of reading a book with your annotations, there is no hope. For the record, I also cannot bring myself to scribble in books, though I sometimes find it fascinating to encounter the marginalia of others.
"Scribble" is a word that diminishes my point. Could it be that you and flagamuffin might yet be hearing the voice of a librarian or grade 2 teacher or parent admonishing you? In any case, most marginalia is idiosyncratic and indecipherable to others. My main point is to do it for one's self. Flag's method of keeping post-its and written notes probably works just as well. Ideally, one would highlight an important passage and use a post-it to make it easy to find later. Edit There seem to be two kinds of people in the world: those that allow themselves to write in books and those that do not.
-- Attributed to Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, 1781, upon receiving the second (or third, or possibly both) volume(s) of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire from the author. I recently purchased a pristine copy of Thinking Fast and Slow (just a couple of years behind everyone). I expect to find it stimulating, and will consider penciling some impressions into the white spaces."Scribble" is a word that diminishes...
That's true, and reminds me of a favorite quote:"Another damned thick book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh, Mr. Gibbon?"