A lot of people will tell you they've read a book, when they haven't. This is particularly true for so-called Classic Literature. Maybe people feel guilty because they feel they were supposed to read those books? Or maybe they're just bored with your conversation?

Here's why I think reading the Classics is important: I learned all about the contrasts between good and evil from reading The Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen. They also taught me about moral ambiguity. This knowledge helped me to have a nuanced understanding when I got around to reading  Fyodor Dostoevsky, Albert Camus, and Dickens. And these three luminaries gave me a broader scope in terms of societal structure and social expectations and the ways in which different people reacted to different circumstances. To my mind, this is education.

It is a truism that the more you read, the more you learn, and the more you learn, the more you realize how little you actually know. To my mind, this is the beginning of wisdom.