Water is pulled into the tiny spaces between the threads of a towel by capillary attraction. If it weren't for capillary attraction, a towel would be no better than a piece of oilcloth for drying one's hands.
If it weren't for capillary attraction, a blotter would not blot up ink. Paraffin would not soak up into a candlewick. Oil would not rise in the wick of an oil lamp. Most important of all, water deep in the ground would not rise through the soil to the roots of plant. If capillary attraction should stop, most of the plants in the world would soon be dead.
