Harvard Classics

Introductory note on George Berkeley (Volume 37, Harvard classics)

Offhand we say a skeptic is one who doubts everything. But does he? And are his doubts caused by too much learning, or too little? Berkeley presents both sides of skepticism. (Volume 37, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on Jonathan Swift (Volume 27, Harvard classics)

To harp on one's illnesses, giving all the symptoms and circumstances, has been a blemish on conversation for ages. Two hundred years ago Swift complained of persons who continually talked about themselves. (Volume 27, Harvard Classics)

Jonathan Swift born Nov. 30, 1667.

Introductory note on David Hume (Volume 37, Harvard classics)

Did you ever stop to think just how you thought? What inner emotions, what outer influences make up the fathomless depths of mind and intellect? Hume explains how we draw our thoughts, then clumsily put them into tangible shape called ideas. (Volume 37, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on William Blake (The Ridpath Library of Universal Literature)

"To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower---" Such was the exaltation of the mysticism of William Blake, who reflected in his poetry the ecstasy of his visions. Simplicity is the keynote of his genius. (Volume 41, Harvard Classics)

William Blake born Nov. 28, 1757.

Introductory note on Sir Thomas More (Volume 36, Harvard Classics)

In wondrous Utopia pearls and precious stones were used as playthings for little children. Gold rings and bracelets were only worn by outcasts, while great golden chains shackled criminals and felons. When ambassadors from foreign lands came in fine raiment, the Utopians treated the plainest dressed as the greatest; the others seemed to them like children. (Volume 36, Harvard Classics)