哈佛經典

《世界新聞網》邱鴻安 (http://blog.worldjournal.com/stevenchiu) August 14, 2009

●哈佛大學歷史上的著名校長艾略特(Charles Eliot)，在1909年曾編過一套書，叫做「哈佛經典」(Harvard Classics)，這套書共51冊，所蒐經典名著，包括了古希臘的悲劇和哲學，直至19世紀達爾文的進化論。

Charles Eliot 雕像

    艾略特編書的目的，是要讓沒有機會進哈佛的人，都可以得到哈佛的教育；哈佛以前最重人文教育，所以艾略特認為，讀了這套經典的人，就可盡得西方人文傳統的精華。

    年輕作家彼哈(Christopher Beha)，今年5月出版了一本新書，書裏所寫，正是他讀「哈佛經典」的情況。這套經典又叫做「五呎書架」(The Whole Five Feet)，因為全書51冊，剛好放滿一個五呎的書架，彼哈的新書也以此為名。

Harvard_Classics

    讀彼哈的書，有一個意外的收獲，因為他討論到如何讀書的問題。彼哈自己畢業於普林斯頓大學，在讀「哈佛經典」時，剛克服了血癌，只有27歲，人生沒有方向，想寫作，又不知道要寫什麼，因此他在一個寂寞的冬天，決心用一年的時間，每周一冊，直至讀畢全套書，希望從中可以找到自己該如何活下去的智慧。

    彼哈因為有自定的目的，所以真的讀到不少人生智慧，例如在人生的最重要課題生老病死上，他就有不少發現；法國思想家巴斯卡就說，再多的學問，也不能讓病痛和死亡沉默。(出自巴斯卡的「沉思錄」)

Harvard Classics 內頁1

    當他開始後不久，他的舅母得了皮膚癌，死亡立時逼近；他這時讀的是羅馬哲學家奧瑞利阿斯(Marcus Aurelius)的「沉思錄」，奧瑞利阿斯忠告說：你的時間有限，如果不趕緊清除人生的疑慮，你將會像時間一樣消失，一去不回。

Harvard Classics 內頁2

   到了夏天，他舅母去世，而他也血癌復發，因此他渴望從經典中得到慰藉。當他讀到19世紀英國哲學家米爾(John Stuart Mill)的自傳時，目睹聰明一世的米爾，因發現自己「只是一部理性的機器」(a mere reasoning machine)，以致精神崩潰；幸好米爾在大病一場後，終告復元。米爾能夠痊癒，使彼哈得到很大的安慰。

Harvard Classics 內頁3

   新儒家徐復觀也鼓勵人讀經典，因為每門學問都必有被視為經典的著作，因此必須讀通經典，才能夠在一門學問上打下基礎。徐先生寫過文章，詳述他的讀書經驗，其中說到，他40多歲以前，幾乎沒有一天不讀書，但是卻因為沒有一定的目的，所以讀了幾十年的書，卻空手而回，沒有得到什麼好處。自從悟到這一點，他以後打開書本時，心裏就一定要有所追求。彼哈讀「哈佛經典」，因為有他的目的，所以能夠找到他要找尋的智慧，才不致於如入寶山，卻空手而回。

Harvard Classics 卷17-20

相關連結： 

The Whole Five Feet  http://thewholefivefeet.com/home.html

網上百科全書  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics

The Harvard Classics  http://www.harvardclassics.org/

Harvard Classics  http://www.mensetmanus.net/inspiration/fifteen_minutes_a_day/

The Harvard Classics e在 Life 雜誌上的廣告 (1925年)

From Life, June 11, 1925, page 1. The text reads:

      What should a family's very first investment be? Bonds? A home? Insurance? There is one thing even more vital than these. Their future success is going to depend principally upon his and her mental growth. Will their social acquaintances find her interesting, or mentally commonplace? Will men in business be impresses with his range of information, his capacity to think straight and talk well? More than 150,000 families have found the answer to these questions with the help of Dr. Charles W. Eliot, for forty years President of Harvard. These families are spending 15 minutes a day with the most famous library in the world, Dr. Eliot's five-foot shelf of books. You know something about this great library, but every American household should have a copy of the little book which tells the whole story. The book is free and will be sent by mail; the coupon below will bring it. Out of the great mass of books (more than four million volumes) Dr. Eliot and his associates undertook to select 418 great masterpieces that contain what he termed "the essentials of a liberal education." These he combined in fifty volumes and arranged with notes and reading courses so that they can be thoroughly mastered, even though you read them only fifteen minutes a day. Fifteen minutes a day with the world's greatest travelers, scientists, poets, essayists, biographers and historians. Fifteen minutes of the sort of reading that made Lincoln a well-read man, though his formal education never went beyond the common schools--surely this is the most valuable investment that any household can make. For here is the highroad to charm, to brain power, to success, which every man and woman will find it profitable to follow, especially when the money cost is only a few cents a week. Decide today that no matter how little time you have for reading you are going to make every minute count. Let Dr. Eliot guide you in this important department of your life as you would let a physician guide you in matters of health, or a banker in the care of your savings. His guidance is free; it is contained in the little book "Fifteen Minutes a Day." This booklet contains the contents, plan and purpose of the most widely read home library in the world. It is sent absolutely free and without obligation to those who mail the coupon. Send for your copy now.