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"First we are caused to think about the characters in the story, then about ourselves, then about people we know and finally about humanity in general...The classics can be hard work, and that is exactly what is needed to learn to think. Thinking is hard; deep thinking is not entertaining or easy...The classics make us struggle, search, ponder, seek, analyze, discover, decide, and reconsider."A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille
"All generations before this one have had geographical frontiers to conquer. We don't. Without a frontier we cannot become what the Founders, the explorers and the pioneers became in their extremities. Our challenges define us, our reaction to them mold and shape us...Human beings need a frontier in order to progress. Fortunately, we do have one frontier left, and it is in fact the hardest one. It is the frontier within...classics can help."A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille
"The purpose of studying literature is to become better. As we read we experience despair, heartache, tragedy -- we learn to recognize what causes them and avoid it or cope with it in our own lives. As we study the characters, real or fictional, in the classics, we are inspired by greatness, which is the first step to becoming great ourselves...Who we are changes as we set higher and higher standards of what life is about and what we are here to accomplish."A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille
"...the thing which makes a classic great is glaring insight into basic human nature...as you study the classics, you learn about your own personal nature... If we will let them, the classics can teach us lessons without the pain of repeating certain mistakes ourselves. They can show us correct choices which will get us where we want to go."A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille
