C.S. Lewis had an interesting argument for why one should read old books: "Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and sp

C.S. Lewis had an interesting argument for why one should read old books: "Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books. [snip] Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us. [snip] To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a corrective as the books of the past, but unfortunately we cannot get at them."