The Harvard Classics Project

The Harvard Classics Project delivers daily readings from The Harvard Classics, following Charles W. Eliot’s “15 minutes a day” plan, fostering a liberal education through classic literature for free and premium subscribers.

By Amanda Kennedy

· Launched 3 years ago

"Back to Nature" in the Seventeenth Century

A "Back to Nature" movement in the seventeenth century was headed by Rousseau, who believed that civilization was degrading...

Jun 2 • Amanda Kennedy

America's Most Surprising Poet

Walt Whitman is the most original and startling of modern poets. An irony of his life is that while he wrote for the contemporary masses, only a limited…

Jun 1 • Amanda Kennedy

When the Throb of the War Drum Is Stifl'd

At the close of the war, a torn and bleeding nation set about to rebuild its shattered frame. The result was a stronger nation rising from an almost…

Jun 1 • Amanda Kennedy

Adventures in Bagdad

A Bagdad merchant dreamed of the money he would make from the sale of a tray of glassware, and of marrying the king's daugh­ter. But, daydreaming, he…

Jun 1 • Amanda Kennedy

Lessing's Courageous Stand for Toleration

To advance freedom of thought, Lessing published an essay of one hundred paragraphs outlining the history of religion. The wrath of orthodox churchmen…

Jun 1 • Amanda Kennedy

Daughter Declares Her Love

Goneril and Regan falsely swore they loved their father, King Lear, more than life itself. Cordelia could find no words to ex­press her sincere…

Jun 1 • Amanda Kennedy

Do What You Fear

Emerson startled the world by fearlessly declaring his beliefs. Such apparent paradoxes as we find in his essay, "Heroism," makes him the most…

Jun 1 • Amanda Kennedy