Einstein on Classic Literature

Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely near-sighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else. And what a person thinks on his own without being stimulated by the thoughts and experiences of other people is even in the best case rather paltry and monotonous.

There are only a few enlightened people with a lucid mind and style and with good taste within a century. What has been preserved of their work belongs among the most precious possessions of mankind. We owe it to a few writers of antiquity that the people in the Middle Ages could slowly extricate themselves from the superstitions and ignorance that had darkened life for more than half a millennium.

Nothing is more needed to overcome the modernist’s snobbishness. 

*Written for the Jungkaufmann February 29, 1952 and included in Ideas and Opinions

 

Last summer I read C.S. Lewis and in his writing, he recommended alternating contemporary reading with the classics and it seems he is in good company.  Einstein believed there were “only a few enlightened people” in a century and their work is worth reading.

Regarding the Middle Ages, perhaps Einstein refers to the Greek thinkers of antiquity who helped bring an end to 500 years of ignorance.  Stoics like Epictetus come to mind  (link to letter Epictetus, Life is a Festival).

My 1954 copy of Einstein’s Ideas and Opinions has notes on the inside and back covers, something you won’t find with a shiny new edition and a treasure I found at the local book-swap. This collection is the most important of his general writing

Link to the book, Einstein’s Ideas and Opinions

Media content today is disturbing on many levels and it’s essential to think about what is important to you and choose your own content.  Sensationalism drives media ratings and the depravity of a lot of popular programming is motivation enough to unplug.  (Read more here Cherokee Folktale)

Read the writing of thinkers like Einstein or Epictetus and writers like Cervantes or Austen. (Read Austen, Train Your Brain).

Choose to hang out with the greats.

 

Jul 26, 2014

0 Comments

About the Author

Mylinh Shattan is a writer who has lived on three continents, served in the Army, worked in corporate America, and taught in college. She loves adventures, in the world and in the mind. Literature is relevant and learning is a lifelong pursuit, so you might as well have a bit of fun along the way.

Stay Up to Date

Rise above the tedium with the TreeHouseLetter. Always learning with a bit of fun.

Latest Posts

The Cure for Resentment and Cynicism

3 Min read 2 Book recs 1 Podcast rec Wisdom from the college graduate AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes The cure for resentment and self-abnegation is gratitude. So says Douglas Murray, author and guest on the Good Fellows Podcast.* Murray asked his friend--a...

Weasel Words

3 Min read 2 Book recs on grammar, usage, and style Toolbox, ages 9 to 99 Improve writing immediately AVAILABLE IN PODCAST Spotify iTunes * One of our defects as a nation is a tendency to use what have been called weasel words. When a weasel sucks eggs it sucks the...

What Makes a Single Person’s Death Feel Large?*

4 Min read 2 Book recs, on writing and on jigsaws Toolbox, the Eulogy 1 Elegy, What is Dying? for the bereaved * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY iTunes * Four friends died recently and three were my age: one from acute liver failure, one from Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS),...

Wild Horses Dragged Me Away

3 Min read Wild horses Assateague Island Estancia Alta Vista, Patagonia 1 Book, children's classic AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Wild horses dragged me away.* In earnest. My road trip last weekend had a detour to Assateague Island off the Eastern Shore of...

Go Slow to Go Fast

3 Min read 1 Cookbook rec 1 Book rec on writing Toolbox AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * My nephew Donny and I were making Sally's* shortbread cookies. They're called short because of the amount of butter used. The more butter or fat, the more crumbly, tender,...

Sleep on It: Darkness Helps Us See the Light

5 Min read Dreams Pattern seeker 1 Podcast rec Digit dork alert - Fibonacci, Golden Ratio AVAILABLE IN PODCAST Spotify iTunes * A three-for, a chief in triplicate, the Don at the podium was the Don of adolescence, the Don of agency, and the Don of business school....

Topics

Inoculate yourself against the absurdity of life with a dose of the best ideas and writing. Always learning with a bit of fun.

TreeHouseLetter

Always learning with a bit of fun

 

 

Readers receive one to two letters a week, with 2 to 10 minute read time. Includes regular features:

 

The Music in Prose
Poetry for Emergencies
Toolbox

 

 

Be inspired by the best writing and ideas, and become better readers and writers in the process.

Thank you for joining! Please check your email for a confirmation.