Classic Readings for Chinese Students (5) 80 Famous Speeches You Should Read in Your Lifetime

Author: New Growth Reading Guidance Committee
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features:
1. Gain true knowledge and wisdom through reading.
2. Achieve enlightenment and growth in appreciation.
3. The best gift for yourself.
4. Not to be sent to classmates as a soul-stirring soup.
5. A treasury of wisdom for parents to give to their children.
6. A spiritual read for teachers to gift to their students.
It is not necessarily true that loving to read is always a good thing. Unselective reading, or reading low-quality, poorly written books, is better than reading less or not at all. For young readers whose bodies and minds are still developing, while broad reading is important, reading classics may be even more so. The renowned French writer André Malraux once said, "Do not drown yourself in the sea of ordinary books"—because life is short, even reading classic masterpieces is not enough. To Samuel Smiles, a British writer, reading the best books is like engaging in dialogue with the greatest thinkers of all time and befriending the wisest minds. Both believed that only by reading classics could one truly be considered a clever reader.
Classic works are masterpieces recognized as the best after being tested by hundreds of years, renowned for their profound thoughts, deep insights, and exquisite language. Among the countless writings and works produced by humanity throughout thousands of years, only a very few have survived the test of time. Thus, classic works are the essence of human civilization and the crystallization of human wisdom. Even the distinguished scholar Qian Liqun has argued that reading classics is the fundamental way of education.
To encourage young students to read more classics, we adhere to the principle of selective reading. Based on five major themes— (), , , —we have carefully selected 400 of the best works from the vast body of outstanding literature through the ages. These works are categorized and compiled into this book, titled 《》. We hope that young readers will find in these timeless words the depth of history and the charm of thought, gaining the motivation and inspiration for life and growth!