A proper education involves reading great books

John Erskine on reading great books, from his book titled My Life as a Teacher

"The really great writers have been accepted by large groups of people for many different reasons. The English admire Shakespeare, so do the Germans and so do the French, but each national temperament admires a different Shakespeare." - John Erskine

John Erskine was an American professor, author, pianist, and composer. One of his most well-known accomplishments was his effort to include translated classic literature in Columbia College's curriculum. This effort later spearheaded the Great Books movement, taken up by Mortimer Adler, a junior faculty, and later Robert Hutchins at the University of Chicago.

Erskine thought that students at Columbia should become acquainted with great books as part of their education. For him, great books are those that have long-lasting meaning to individuals and society.

"A great book is one that has meaning, and continues to have meaning, for a variety of people over a long period of time. The world chooses its great books by a social process. I wanted the boys to study great books by the same social process—by reading them simultaneously and by exchanging opinions about them."

Erskine also considered books great if the content was so rich that many different opinions could be held about them—in the past, present, and future.