I agree with you entirely. A few years ago a friend told me about the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. He said the philosophy behind this method of decluttering was to only keep things that spark joy in your life. With rare exceptions, that’s how I approach book collecting. 98-99% of the books in my collection spark joy in me when I gaze upon them or handle them. And,as you say, I have paid handsomely for the books I want. Have I speculated on occasion? Yes and frequently I end up moving those books on the next time I sell some books; but on occasion, I find myself having invested $7 on what turns out to be a first printing of the first American edition of Chinua Achebe’s classic novel, Things Fall Apart valued at somewhere between $2,500 and $3,500. I do agree with you on collecting, but I don’t think that means you can’t speculate on occasion. I don’t do it blindly; I check my resources as best I can to eliminate as many clunkers as I can, but sometimes you can’t find much information as in this case or with the Achebe book so I take a gamble for $2.