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Henry David Thoreau on Why Study Classics

(fron Walden, "Reading")

The student may read Homer or schylus in the Gree without dan!er o" dissipation or lu#uriousness$ "or it implies that he in some measure emulate their heroes$ and consecrate mornin! hours to their pa!es. The heroic %oo s$ e&en i" printed in the character o" our mother ton!ue$ will always %e in a lan!ua!e dead to de!enerate times' and we must la%oriously see the meanin! o" each word and line$ conjecturin! a lar!er sense than common use permits out o" what wisdom and &alor and !enerosity we ha&e. The modern cheap and "ertile press$ with all its translations$ has done little to %rin! us nearer to the heroic writers o" anti(uity. They seem as solitary$ and the letter in which they are printed as rare and curious$ as e&er. )t is worth the e#pense o" youth"ul days and costly hours$ i" you learn only some words o" an ancient lan!ua!e$ which are raised out o" the tri&ialness o" the street$ to %e perpetual su!!estions and pro&ocations. )t is not in &ain that the "armer remem%ers and repeats the "ew *atin words which he has heard. Men sometimes spea as i" the study o" the classics would at len!th ma e way "or more modern and practical studies' %ut the ad&enturous student will always study classics$ in whate&er lan!ua!e they may %e written and howe&er ancient they may %e. +or what are the classics %ut the no%lest recorded thou!hts o" man, They are the only oracles which are not decayed$ and there are such answers to the most modern in(uiry in them as -elphi and -odona ne&er !a&e. We mi!ht as well omit to study .ature %ecause she is old. To read well$ that is$ to read true %oo s in a true spirit$ is a no%le e#ercise$ and one that will tas the reader more than any e#ercise which the customs o" the day esteem. )t re(uires a trainin! such as the athletes underwent$ the steady intention almost o" the whole li"e to this o%ject. /oo s must %e read as deli%erately and reser&edly as they were written. )t is not enou!h e&en to %e a%le to spea the lan!ua!e o" that nation %y which they are written$ "or there is a memora%le inter&al %etween the spo en and the written lan!ua!e$ the lan!ua!e heard and the lan!ua!e read. The one is commonly transitory$ a sound$ a ton!ue$ a dialect merely$ almost %rutish$ and we learn it unconsciously$ li e the %rutes$ o" our mothers. The other is the maturity and e#perience o" that' i" that is our mother ton!ue$ this is our "ather ton!ue$ a reser&ed and select e#pression$ too si!ni"icant to %e heard %y the ear$ which we must %e %orn a!ain in order to spea . The crowds o" men who merely spo e the Gree and *atin ton!ues in the Middle A!es were not entitled %y the accident o" %irth to read the wor s o" !enius written in those lan!ua!es' "or these were not written in that Gree or *atin which they new$ %ut in the select lan!ua!e o" literature. They had not learned the no%ler dialects o" Greece and 0ome$ %ut the &ery materials on which they were written were waste paper to them$ and they pri1ed instead a cheap contemporary literature. /ut when the se&eral nations o" 2urope had ac(uired distinct thou!h rude written lan!ua!es o" their own$ su""icient "or the purposes o" their risin! literatures$ then "irst learnin! re&i&ed$ and scholars were ena%led to discern "rom that remoteness the treasures o" anti(uity. What the 0oman and Grecian multitude could not hear$ a"ter the lapse o" a!es a "ew scholars read$ and a "ew scholars only are still readin! it. Howe&er much we may admire the orator3s occasional %ursts o" elo(uence$ the no%lest written words are commonly as "ar %ehind or a%o&e the "leetin! spo en lan!ua!e as the "irmament with its stars is %ehind the clouds. There are the stars$ and they who can may read them. The astronomers "ore&er comment on and o%ser&e them. They are not e#halations li e our daily collo(uies and &aporous %reath. What is called elo(uence in the "orum is commonly "ound to %e rhetoric in the study. The orator yields to the inspiration o" a transient occasion$ and spea s to the mo% %e"ore him$ to those who can hear him' %ut the writer$ whose more e(ua%le li"e is his

occasion$ and who would %e distracted %y the e&ent and the crowd which inspire the orator$ spea s to the intellect and health o" man ind$ to all in any a!e who can understand him. .o wonder that Ale#ander carried the )liad with him on his e#peditions in a precious cas et. A written word is the choicest o" relics. )t is somethin! at once more intimate with us and more uni&ersal than any other wor o" art. )t is the wor o" art nearest to li"e itsel". )t may %e translated into e&ery lan!ua!e$ and not only %e read %ut actually %reathed "rom all human lips'--not %e represented on can&as or in mar%le only$ %ut %e car&ed out o" the %reath o" li"e itsel". The sym%ol o" an ancient man3s thou!ht %ecomes a modern man3s speech. Two thousand summers ha&e imparted to the monuments o" Grecian literature$ as to her mar%les$ only a maturer !olden and autumnal tint$ "or they ha&e carried their own serene and celestial atmosphere into all lands to protect them a!ainst the corrosion o" time. /oo s are the treasured wealth o" the world and the "it inheritance o" !enerations and nations. /oo s$ the oldest and the %est$ stand naturally and ri!ht"ully on the shel&es o" e&ery cotta!e. They ha&e no cause o" their own to plead$ %ut while they enli!hten and sustain the reader his common sense will not re"use them. Their authors are a natural and irresisti%le aristocracy in e&ery society$ and$ more than in!s or emperors$ e#ert an in"luence on man ind. When the illiterate and perhaps scorn"ul trader has earned %y enterprise and industry his co&eted leisure and independence$ and is admitted to the circles o" wealth and "ashion$ he turns ine&ita%ly at last to those still hi!her %ut yet inaccessi%le circles o" intellect and !enius$ and is sensi%le only o" the imper"ection o" his culture and the &anity and insu""iciency o" all his riches$ and "urther pro&es his !ood sense %y the pains which %e ta es to secure "or his children that intellectual culture whose want he so eenly "eels' and thus it is that he %ecomes the "ounder o" a "amily. Those who ha&e not learned to read the ancient classics in the lan!ua!e in which they were written must ha&e a &ery imper"ect nowled!e o" the history o" the human race' "or it is remar a%le that no transcript o" them has e&er %een made into any modern ton!ue$ unless our ci&ili1ation itsel" may %e re!arded as such a transcript. Homer has ne&er yet %een printed in 2n!lish$ nor schylus$ nor 4ir!il e&en--wor s as re"ined$ as solidly done$ and as %eauti"ul almost as the mornin! itsel"' "or later writers$ say what we will o" their !enius$ ha&e rarely$ i" e&er$ e(ualed the ela%orate %eauty and "inish and the li"elon! and heroic literary la%ors o" the ancients. They only tal o" "or!ettin! them who ne&er new them. )t will %e soon enou!h to "or!et them when we ha&e the learnin! and the !enius which will ena%le us to attend to and appreciate them. That a!e will %e rich indeed when those relics which we call Classics$ and the still older and more than classic %ut e&en less nown 5criptures o" the nations$ shall ha&e still "urther accumulated$ when the 4aticans shall %e "illed with 4edas and 6enda&estas and /i%les$ with Homers and -antes and 5ha espeares$ and all the centuries to come shall ha&e successi&ely deposited their trophies in the "orum o" the world. /y such a pile we may hope to scale hea&en at last. The wor s o" the !reat poets ha&e ne&er yet %een read %y man ind$ "or only !reat poets can read them. They ha&e only %een read as the multitude read the stars$ at most astrolo!ically$ not astronomically. Most men ha&e learned to read to ser&e a paltry con&enience$ as they ha&e learned to cipher in order to eep accounts and not %e cheated in trade' %ut o" readin! as a no%le intellectual e#ercise they now little or nothin!' yet this only is readin!$ in a hi!h sense$ not that which lulls us as a lu#ury and su""ers the no%ler "aculties to sleep the while$ %ut what we ha&e to stand on tip-toe to read and de&ote our most alert and wa e"ul hours to. ) thin that ha&in! learned our letters we should read the %est that is in literature$ and not %e "ore&er repeatin! our a-%-a%s$ and words o" one sylla%le$ in the "ourth or "i"th classes$ sittin! on the lowest and "oremost "orm all our li&es. Most men are satis"ied i" they read or hear read$ and perchance ha&e %een con&icted %y the wisdom o" one !ood %oo $ the /i%le$ and "or the rest o" their li&es &e!etate and dissipate their "aculties in what is called easy readin!. There is a wor in se&eral &olumes in our Circulatin! *i%rary entitled 7*ittle 0eadin!$7 which ) thou!ht re"erred to a town o" that name which ) had not %een to. There are those who$ li e cormorants and ostriches$ can di!est all sorts o" this$ e&en a"ter the "ullest dinner o" meats and &e!eta%les$ "or they su""er nothin! to %e wasted. )" others are the machines to pro&ide this pro&ender$ they are the machines to read it. They read the nine thousandth tale a%out 6e%ulon and 5ophronia$ and how they lo&ed as none had e&er lo&ed %e"ore$ and neither did the course o" their true lo&e run smooth--at any rate$ how it did run and stum%le$ and !et up a!ain and !o on8 how some poor un"ortunate !ot up on to a steeple$ who had %etter ne&er ha&e !one up as "ar

as the %el"ry' and then$ ha&in! needlessly !ot him up there$ the happy no&elist rin!s the %ell "or all the world to come to!ether and hear$ 9 dear8 how he did !et down a!ain8 +or my part$ ) thin that they had %etter metamorphose all such aspirin! heroes o" uni&ersal no&eldom into man weather-coc s$ as they used to put heroes amon! the constellations$ and let them swin! round there till they are rusty$ and not come down at all to %other honest men with their pran s. The ne#t time the no&elist rin!s the %ell ) will not stir thou!h the meetin!house %urn down. 7The 5 ip o" the Tip-Toe-Hop$ a 0omance o" the Middle A!es$ %y the cele%rated author o" 3Tittle-Tol-Tan$3 to appear in monthly parts' a !reat rush' don3t all come to!ether.7 All this they read with saucer eyes$ and erect and primiti&e curiosity$ and with unwearied !i11ard$ whose corru!ations e&en yet need no sharpenin!$ just as some little "our-year-old %encher his two-cent !ilt-co&ered edition o" Cinderella--without any impro&ement$ that ) can see$ in the pronunciation$ or accent$ or emphasis$ or any more s ill in e#tractin! or insertin! the moral. The result is dulness o" si!ht$ a sta!nation o" the &ital circulations$ and a !eneral deli(uium and slou!hin! o"" o" all the intellectual "aculties. This sort o" !in!er%read is %a ed daily and more sedulously than pure wheat or rye-and-)ndian in almost e&ery o&en$ and "inds a surer mar et. The %est %oo s are not read e&en %y those who are called !ood readers. What does our Concord culture amount to, There is in this town$ with a &ery "ew e#ceptions$ no taste "or the %est or "or &ery !ood %oo s e&en in 2n!lish literature$ whose words all can read and spell. 2&en the colle!e-%red and so-called li%erally educated men here and elsewhere ha&e really little or no ac(uaintance with the 2n!lish classics' and as "or the recorded wisdom o" man ind$ the ancient classics and /i%les$ which are accessi%le to all who will now o" them$ there are the "ee%lest e""orts anywhere made to %ecome ac(uainted with them. ) now a woodchopper$ o" middle a!e$ who ta es a +rench paper$ not "or news as he says$ "or he is a%o&e that$ %ut to 7 eep himsel" in practice$7 he %ein! a Canadian %y %irth' and when ) as him what he considers the %est thin! he can do in this world$ he says$ %eside this$ to eep up and add to his 2n!lish. This is a%out as much as the colle!e-%red !enerally do or aspire to do$ and they ta e an 2n!lish paper "or the purpose. 9ne who has just come "rom readin! perhaps one o" the %est 2n!lish %oo s will "ind how many with whom he can con&erse a%out it, 9r suppose he comes "rom readin! a Gree or *atin classic in the ori!inal$ whose praises are "amiliar e&en to the so-called illiterate' he will "ind no%ody at all to spea to$ %ut must eep silence a%out it. )ndeed$ there is hardly the pro"essor in our colle!es$ who$ i" he has mastered the di""iculties o" the lan!ua!e$ has proportionally mastered the di""iculties o" the wit and poetry o" a Gree poet$ and has any sympathy to impart to the alert and heroic reader' and as "or the sacred 5criptures$ or /i%les o" man ind$ who in this town can tell me e&en their titles, Most men do not now that any nation %ut the He%rews ha&e had a scripture. A man$ any man$ will !o considera%ly out o" his way to pic up a sil&er dollar' %ut here are !olden words$ which the wisest men o" anti(uity ha&e uttered$ and whose worth the wise o" e&ery succeedin! a!e ha&e assured us o"'--and yet we learn to read only as "ar as 2asy 0eadin!$ the primers and class-%oo s$ and when we lea&e school$ the 7*ittle 0eadin!$7 and story-%oo s$ which are "or %oys and %e!inners' and our readin!$ our con&ersation and thin in!$ are all on a &ery low le&el$ worthy only o" py!mies and mani ins. ) aspire to %e ac(uainted with wiser men than this our Concord soil has produced$ whose names are hardly nown here. 9r shall ) hear the name o" :lato and ne&er read his %oo , As i" :lato were my townsman and ) ne&er saw him--my ne#t nei!h%or and ) ne&er heard him spea or attended to the wisdom o" his words. /ut how actually is it, His -ialo!ues$ which contain what was immortal in him$ lie on the ne#t shel"$ and yet ) ne&er read them. We are under%red and low-li&ed and illiterate' and in this respect ) con"ess ) do not ma e any &ery %road distinction %etween the illiterateness o" my townsman who cannot read at all and the illiterateness o" him who has learned to read only what is "or children and "ee%le intellects. We should %e as !ood as the worthies o" anti(uity$ %ut partly %y "irst nowin! how !ood they were. We are a race o" tit-men$ and soar %ut little hi!her in our intellectual "li!hts than the columns o" the daily papers o" the mind$ the classic pa!es "ill up the &acuum o" ennui$ and %ecome sweet composers to that rest o" the !ra&e into which we are all sooner or later to descend.7

http://www.hsc.edu/Academics/Academic-Majors/Classics/Why-Classics/Thomas-;e""erson-on-WhyClassics.html

Thomas Jefferson on Why Study Classics

ou as! my o"inion on the e#tent to $hich classical learning should %e carried in our country. A sic ly condition permits me to thin and a rheumatic hand to write too %rie"ly on this liti!ated (uestion. The utilities we deri&e "rom the remains o" the Gree and *atin lan!ua!es are$ "irst$ as models o" pure taste in writin!. To these we are certainly inde%ted "or the national and chaste style o" modern composition which so much distin!uishes the nations to whom these lan!ua!es are "amiliar. Without these models we should pro%a%ly ha&e continued the in"lated style o" our northern ancestors$ or the hyper%olical and &a!ue one o" the east. 5econd$ amon! the &alues o" classical learnin!$ ) estimate the lu#ury o" readin! the Gree and 0oman authors in all the %eauties o" their ori!inals. And why should not this innocent and ele!ant lu#ury ta e its preeminent stand ahead o" all those addressed merely to the senses, ) thin mysel" more inde%ted to my "ather "or this than "or all the other lu#uries his cares and a""ections ha&e placed within my reach' and more now than when youn!er$ and more suscepti%le o" deli!hts "rom other sources. When the decays o" a!e ha&e en"ee%led the use"ul ener!ies o" the mind$ the classic pa!es "ill up the &acuum o" ennui$ and %ecome sweet composers to that rest o" the !ra&e into which we are all sooner or later to descend. A third &alue is in the stores o" real science deposited and transmitted us in these lan!ua!es$ to-wit: in history$ ethics$ arithmetic$ !eometry$ astronomy$ and natural history. &ut to $hom are these things useful' Certainly not to all men. There are conditions o" li"e to which they must %e "ore&er estran!ed$ and there are epochs o" li"e too$ a"ter which the endea&or to attain them would %e a !reat misemployment o" time. Their ac(uisition should %e the occupation o" our early years only$ when the memory is suscepti%le o" deep and lastin! impressions$ and reason and jud!ment not yet stron! enou!h "or a%stract speculations. To the moralist they are &alua%le$ %ecause they "urnish ethical writin!s hi!hly and justly esteemed: althou!h in my own opinion$ the moderns are "ar ad&anced %eyond them in this line o" science$ the di&ine "inds in the Gree lan!ua!e a translation o" his primary code$ o" more importance to him than the ori!inal %ecause %etter understood' and$ in the same lan!ua!e$ the newer code$ with the doctrines o" the earliest "athers$ who li&ed and wrote %e"ore the simple precepts o" the "ounder o" this most %eni!n and pure o" all systems o" morality %ecame "rittered into su%tleties and mysteries$ and hidden under jar!ons incomprehensi%le to the human mind. To these ori!inal sources he must now$ there"ore$ return$ to reco&er the &ir!in purity o" his reli!ion. The lawyer "inds in the *atin lan!ua!e the system o" ci&il law most con"orma%le with the principles o" justice o" any which has e&er yet %een esta%lished amon! men$ and "rom which much has %een incorporated into our own. The physician as !ood a code o" his art as has %een !i&en us to this day. Theories and systems o" medicine$ indeed$ ha&e %een in perpetual chan!e "rom the days o" the !ood Hippocrates to the days o" the !ood 0ush$ %ut which o" them is the true one, The present$ to %e sure$ as lon! as it is the present$ %ut to yield its place in turn to the ne#t no&elty$ which is then to %ecome the true system$ and is to mar the &ast ad&ance o" medicine since the days o" Hippocrates. 9ur situation is certainly %ene"ited %y the disco&ery o" some new and &ery &alua%le medicines' and su%stitutin! those "or some o" his with the treasure o" "acts$ and o" sound o%ser&ations recorded %y him <mi#ed to %e sure with anilities o" his day= and we shall ha&e nearly the present sum o" the healin! art. The statesman will "ind in these lan!ua!es history$ politics$ mathematics$ ethics$ elo(uence$ lo&e o" country$ to which he must add the sciences o" his own day$ "or which o" them should %e un nown to him, And all the sciences must recur to the classical lan!ua!es "or the etymon$ and sound understandin! o" their "undamental terms. +or the merchant ) should not say that the lan!ua!es are a necessary. 2thics$ mathematics$ !eo!raphy$ political economy$ history$ seem to constitute the immediate "oundations o" his callin!. The a!riculturist needs ethics$ mathematics$ chemistry and natural philosophy. The mechanic the same. To them the lan!ua!es are %ut ornament and com"ort. ) now it is o"ten said there ha&e %een shinin! e#amples o" men o" !reat a%ilities in all the %usinesses o" li"e$ without any other science than what they had !athered "rom

con&ersations and intercourse with the world. /ut who can say what these men would not ha&e %een had they started in the science on the shoulders o" a -emosthenes or Cicero$ o" a *oc e or /acon$ or a .ewton, To sum the whole$ there"ore$ it may truly %e said that the classical lan!ua!es are a solid %asis "or most$ and an ornament to all the sciences. <*etter to ;ohn /ra1er >? Au! @A@B= To read the *atin and Gree authors in their ori!inal$ is a su%lime lu#ury' and ) deem lu#ury in science to %e at least as justi"ia%le as in architecture$ paintin!$ !ardenin!$ or the other arts. ) enjoy Homer in his own lan!ua!e in"initely %eyond :ope3s translation o" him$ and %oth %eyond the dull narrati&e o" the same e&ents %y -ares :hry!ius' and it is an innocent enjoyment. ) than on my nees$ him who directed my early education$ "or ha&in! put into my possession this rich source o" deli!ht' and ) would not e#chan!e it "or anythin! which ) could then ha&e ac(uired$ and ha&e not since ac(uired. <*etter to :riestley$ ;an. >C$ @ADD= --7) read one or two newspapers a wee $ %ut with reluctance !i&e e&en that time "rom Tacitus and Homer and so much a!reea%le readin!.7 <@A@D= --7) "eel a much !reater interest in nowin! what has happened two or three thousand years a!o than in what is now passin!.7 <@A@B= --7When youn!$ any composition pleases which unites a little sense$ some ima!ination$ and some rhythm$ in doses howe&er small. /ut as we ad&ance in li"e these thin!s "all o"" one %y one$ and ) suspect that we are le"t at last with only Homer and 4ir!il$ and perhaps with Homer alone.7 <@CAE= --Also$ ;e""erson3s !randchildren paraphrased him as sayin!$ 7)" he had to decide %etween the pleasure deri&ed "rom the classical education which his "ather had !i&en him$ and the estate le"t him$ he would decide in "a&or o" the "ormer.7 And a !randdau!hter noted: 7) saw him more "re(uently with a &olume o" the classics in hand than with any other %oo .7

Samuel Johnson on Why Study Classics

9n 5aturday$ ;uly FD$ -r. ;ohnson and ) too a sculler at the Temple-stairs$ and set out "or Greenwich. ( as!ed him if he really thought a !no$ledge of the )ree! and *atin languages an essential re+uisite to a good education, ;9H.59.. 7Most certainly$ 5ir' "or those who now them ha&e a &ery !reat ad&anta!e o&er those who do not. .ay$ 5ir$ it is wonder"ul what a di""erence learnin! ma es upon people e&en in the common intercourse o" li"e$ which does not appear to %e much connected with it.7 7And yet$ <said )= people !o throu!h the world &ery well$ and carry on the %usiness o" li"e to !ood ad&anta!e$ without learnin!.7 ;9H.59.. 7Why$ 5ir$ that may %e true in cases where learnin! cannot possi%ly %e o" any use' "or instance$ this %oy rows as well without learnin!$ as i" he could sin! the son! o" 9rpheus to the Ar!onauts$ who were the "irst sailors.7 He then called to the %oy$ 7What would you !i&e$ my lad$ to now a%out the Ar!onauts,7 75ir$ <said the %oy$= ) would !i&e what ) ha&e.7 ;ohnson was much pleased with his answer$ and we !a&e him a dou%le "are. -r. ;ohnson then turnin! to me$ 75ir$ <said he$= a desire o" nowled!e is the natural "eelin! o" man ind' and e&ery human %ein!$ whose mind is not de%auched$ will %e willin! to !i&e all that he has to !et nowled!e.7 -James Boswell, Life of Johnson

-le#is De Toc+ueville on Why Study Classics

What was called the :eople in the most democratic repu%lics o" anti(uity was &ery unli e what we desi!nate %y that term. )n Athens all the citi1ens too part in pu%lic a""airs' %ut there were only twenty thousand citi1ens to more than three hundred and "i"ty thousand inha%itants. All the rest were sla&es$ and dischar!ed the !reater part o" those duties which %elon! at the present day to the lower or e&en to the middle classes. Athens$ then$ with her uni&ersal su""ra!e$ was$ a"ter all$ merely an aristocratic repu%lic$ in which all the no%les had an e(ual ri!ht to the !o&ernment. The stru!!le %etween the patricians and ple%eians o" 0ome must %e considered in the same li!ht: it was simply an internal "eud %etween the elder and youn!er %ranches o" the same "amily. All %elon!ed to the aristocracy and all had the aristocratic spirit. )t is to %e remar ed$ moreo&er$ that$ amon! the ancients %oo s were always scarce and dear$ and that &ery !reat di""iculties impeded their pu%lication and circulation. These circumstances concentrated literary tastes and ha%its amon! a small num%er o" men$ who "ormed a small literary aristocracy out o" the choicer spirits o" the !reat political aristocracy. Accordin!ly$ nothin! !oes to pro&e that literature was e&er treated as a trade amon! the Gree s and 0omans. These communities$ which were not only aristocracies$ %ut &ery polished and "ree nations$ o" course imparted to their literary productions the special de"ects and merits that characteri1e the literature o" aristocratic times. And indeed a &ery super"icial sur&ey o" the wor s o" ancient authors will su""ice to con&ince us that i" those writers were sometimes de"icient in &ariety and "ertility in their su%jects$ or in %oldness$ &i&acity$ and power o" !enerali1ation in their thou!hts$ they always displayed e#(uisite care and s ill in their details. .othin! in their wor s seems to %e done hastily or at random' e&ery line is written "or the eye o" the connoisseur and is shaped a"ter some conception o" ideal %eauty. .o literature places those "ine (ualities in which the writers o" democracies are naturally de"icient in %older relie" than that o" the ancients' no literature$ there"ore$ ou!ht to %e more studied in democratic times. This study is %etter suited than any other to com%at the literary de"ects inherent in those times' as "or their natural literary (ualities$ these will sprin! up o" their own accord without its %ein! necessary to learn to ac(uire them. )t is important that this point should %e clearly understood. A particular study may %e use"ul to the literature o" a people without %ein! appropriate to its social and political wants. )" men were to persist in teachin! nothin! %ut the literature o" the dead lan!ua!es in a community where e&eryone is ha%itually led to ma e &ehement e#ertions to au!ment or to maintain his "ortune$ the result would %e a &ery polished$ %ut a &ery dan!erous set o" citi1ens. +or as their social and political condition would !i&e them e&ery day a sense o" wants$ which their education would ne&er teach them to supply$ they would pertur% the state$ in the name o" the Gree s and 0omans$ instead o" enrichin! it %y their producti&e industry. )t is e&ident that in democratic communities the interest o" indi&iduals as well as the security o" the commonwealth demands that the education o" the !reater num%er should %e scienti"ic$ commercial$ and industrial rather than literary. Gree and *atin should not %e tau!ht in all the schools' %ut it is important that

those who$ %y their natural disposition or their "ortune$ are destined to culti&ate letters or prepared to relish them should "ind schools where a complete nowled!e o" ancient literature may %e ac(uired and where the true scholar may %e "ormed. A "ew e#cellent uni&ersities would do more towards the attainment o" this o%ject than a multitude o" %ad !rammar-schools$ where super"luous matters$ %adly learned$ stand in the way o" sound instruction in necessary studies. All who aspire to literary e#cellence in democratic nations ou!ht "re(uently to re"resh themsel&es at the sprin!s o" ancient literature' there is no more wholesome medicine "or the mind. .ot that ) hold the literary productions o" the ancients to %e irreproacha%le$ %ut ) thin that they ha&e some special merits$ admira%ly calculated to counter%alance our peculiar de"ects. They are a prop on the side on which we are in most dan!er o" "allin!. -Ale#is de Toc(ue&ille$ Democracy in America. 4olume ))$ :art )$ Chapter G4: 7The 5tudy o" Gree And *atin *iterature )s :eculiarly Hse"ul )n -emocratic Communities.7