What is "classic"? What do you think we mean by reading classics?

What is a "classic" for thousands of years, new books have been published continuously, and the bibliography belonging to "classics" has also increased day by day. The vast sea of books makes it difficult for the world to read all the books. No matter how long you live, you can only read a drop of water in the sea at most, so the books you read should be the essence, but there are fewer real classics to read. Since there was culture in the world, some people have listed the best books. Teachers and librarians in ancient Alexandria once listed such books. It is not difficult to understand that the bibliographic choices in different times will be different, but the best book catalogues selected in different times have amazing similarities. No matter in which era, cataloguers always accept everything from ancient to modern works, but they are deeply skeptical about whether modern works can compete with classical works. What is a "masterpiece"? What is the sign? The six items mentioned in this article may not be complete, but I think they are extremely useful when choosing books every year. 1. "Masterpieces" generally have the widest audience. They are not only popular for a year or two, but also enduring bestsellers. Compared with Shakespeare's plays and Don Quixote, Gone with the Wind has relatively few readers. Someone made a more realistic estimate: Homer's epic "Heriat" has at least 25 million readers in the past 3,000 years. Famous books may not become best sellers at that time after they came out, but it will take some time for more and more readers. Astronomer Kepler's book on planetary motion is now a masterpiece. It is reported that he said at that time: "God waited for 6 thousand years to have an observer, and my book may have to wait for 100 years to have a reader." 2. "Masterpieces" are popular and easy to play, and they don't show off their knowledge. They are not specialized works written by experts for professionals. Whether they are about philosophy or science, history or poetry, they are all about topics that people have common interests, not academic empty talk. These books are not written for professors, but for ordinary people. To learn advanced textbooks, we must first learn basic textbooks. "Masterpieces" are the basis for discussing various topics. In this sense, we can say that "masterpieces" are basic textbooks. The difference is that they are not a set of interrelated teaching materials, nor are they arranged according to the difficulty and technicality of the problems. There is a kind of book that should be read first in order to facilitate reading famous books, that is, other "famous books" read by famous authors. Take Euclid's basic knowledge of geometry and Newton's physics teaching principles as examples. Reading Euclid's book does not need to study mathematics in advance, because it is a veritable introduction to geometry and basic arithmetic. Newton's book is not, because Newton used mathematics to solve physical problems, and his work was deeply influenced by Euclid's exposition on proportion and area. If you don't read Euclid's book first, I'm afraid even scientists can't understand it at once. I'm not saying that great scientific works can be easily read, but that you have to read them in historical order to get twice the result with half the effort. Just as Euclid can inspire people to understand the works of Newton and Galileo, Newton and Galileo can also help people understand Einstein's works. This view also applies to reading philosophical works. 3. "Masterpiece" will never be out of date. For comparison, we call the current popular books "contemporary works". They are only popular for a year or two or at most ten years. I'm afraid you can't even remember the titles of many early bestsellers, and you won't be interested in reading them anymore. However, "masterpieces" will not be outdated because of ideological movements, theoretical changes and differences in public opinion. Famous works are not dusty works for scholars to study, but the most powerful potential civilization force in the world today. The basic problems of mankind are the same from generation to generation. Anyone who has read Demosthenes's speeches and Cicero's letters, or Bacon's and Montaigne's essays, will find how deeply people believe in happiness and justice, virtue and truth, and even stability and change itself! The road that mankind strives for its goals seems unchangeable. 4. "Famous books" make people never tire of reading. As long as you read carefully, you will never be disappointed. A page of a famous book contains more ideas than an ordinary book. It can make you never tire of reading, and the nutrients in it are inexhaustible. People with different understanding abilities or different views on things love reading "classics". The most obvious examples are Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe and Odyssey. Children can read with interest, but they can't understand all the beauty and significance that adults can appreciate. 5. "Masterpieces" are the most instructive. A "masterpiece" contains things that other books don't have. Whether you agree with the ideas in the book or not, they are indispensable teachers for human beings. "Masterpieces" are widely discussed by people who are both readers and authors. "Masterpiece" is the theme of many books, and there are countless books about it, most of which have been forgotten by the world. 6. "Masterpieces" discuss problems to be solved in life. There are some really mysterious things in the world, which are the signs of the limitations of human knowledge and thinking. People not only begin to explore with questions, but often stop exploring with questions. A really smart person will honestly admit what he doesn't understand, and realizing this doesn't mean shallowness, but shows profound knowledge. Learners are grateful that knowledge is not limited by national boundaries. I don't know how to break the shackles of political nationalism, but I know how to be a friend of all human spirits, regardless of time and place. This is by reading "classics".