“To tell people what to read is a rule either useless or harmful, for the true appreciation of literature is a question of temperament not of teaching…But to tell people what not to read is a very different matter, and I venture to recommend it as a
mission to the University Extension Scheme. Indeed, it is one that is eminently needed in this age of ours, an age which reads so much that it has no time to admire, and writes so much that it has no time to think. Whoever will select out of the chaos of our modern curricula “The Worst Hundred Books,” and publish a list of them, will confer on the rising generation a real and lasting benefit.” –Oscar Wilde, “To Read or Not to Read,” Pall Mall Gazette XLII (Feb 1886).
[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]
I do love nearly every quote I read by Oscar Wilde!
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