In the early part of the 20th century Harvard University President Dr. Charles W. Eliot is quoted for often saying ‘anyone can get all the elements of a liberal education by reading for 15 minutes a day for one year from a collection of books that could fit on a five-foot bookshelf.’ The professor was challenged to create that five-foot bookshelf that could be put into the homes of everyday people so that anyone could turn themselves into a well-read cultivated scholar with minimal time and resources. He accepted that challenge and The Harvard Classics were born.
The Harvard Classics are a collection of the most important books, scientific writings, philosophical arguments, poems, fiction, drama, political theory, pivotal speeches and sacred texts from the entire range of human intellectual activity. The Harvard Classics are the works of 302 of the greatest minds from Plato to Shakespeare to Confucius to Abraham Lincoln whose writings and discoveries are the foundation for all human knowledge today. The Harvard Classics were designed to give all the elements of a general university or liberal education at home in one year with 15 minutes of diligent reading a day using an exclusive reading schedule. After completing the readings you will be a well-read cultivated scholar capable of talking about a vast array of topics that are central to every field of study. You will have a base to engage in conversations about any subject, on top of having astounding small talk ability.
This site is the way for you to accept the professor's challenge with even greater ease and convenience by putting that five-foot bookshelf online and additionally allowing you to listen to the audio of the reading as you read along or hands free during your daily commute or afternoon walk. You can now transform yourself in one year into a well-read cultivated scholar with 15 minute sessions right from your computer, phone or tablet. The five-foot bookshelf is literally at your fingertips.
My Harvard Classics allows you to listen directly on our site or to download the audio readings and listen on your phone or other portable listening device. Our site allows you to track your progress with your own personal reading tracker that links you to the daily readings and allows you to mark each reading as complete after you have read it, so you know where you left off. You can even talk with fellow readers in the forum section and share your thoughts and discoveries.
If you want to accelerate your path to being a well-read cultivated scholar we also have included a 90 Day Challenge that links you to the readings that would allow you to complete the Harvard Classics in 90 Days with one hour of reading a day.
