# How important is it to read the popular classics of philosophy and literature?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-it-to-read-the-popular-classics-of-philosophy-and-literature/737881>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [November 18, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-it-to-read-the-popular-classics-of-philosophy-and-literature/737881 "2015-11-18T13:14:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-it-to-read-the-popular-classics-of-philosophy-and-literature/737881/61 "2015-11-24T16:19:17Z")

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[QUOTE=Budget Player Cadet]  
Seriously, skip Goethe and Schiller. They’re _awful_. Maybe it’s just 200-odd years of the Seinfeld Effect, but at least to me, they seem incredibly preachy, boring, and incredibly pretentious. Even if they influenced much of western literature, it’s absolutely no fun to read them.   
[/QUOTE]

Eh, I don’t know, _The Sorrows of Young Werther_ was a fun read back when I was a teenager with a broken heart. You know, fun in a “makes you want to kill yourself” kind of way :o.

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