--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every year, I have my graduate students…" description: "\"Every year, I have my graduate students read the great works of history, from classical times to the present. They gamely tackle Tacitus, ponder Plutar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/h-w-brands-5491_books_every-year-i-have-my-graduate-students-r_556615.jpg" --- # Every year, I have my graduate students read the great… ![“Every year, I have my graduate students read the great works of history, from classical times to the present. They gamely tackle Tacitus, ponder Plutarch, plow through Gibbon. Then they get to Thomas Carlyle and feel like Dorothy when she touched down in Technicolor Oz.” quote by H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/h-w-brands-5491_books_every-year-i-have-my-graduate-students-r_556615.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/h-w-brands-5491_books_every-year-i-have-my-graduate-students-r_556615.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/h-w-brands-5491_books_every-year-i-have-my-graduate-students-r_556615.jpg) > “Every year, I have my graduate students read the great works of history, from classical times to the present. They gamely tackle Tacitus, ponder Plutarch, plow through Gibbon. Then they get to Thomas Carlyle and feel like Dorothy when she touched down in Technicolor Oz.” [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Students engage deeply with seminal historical texts, gaining insight and imagination akin to stepping into a vivid, transformative world. **In simple terms:** Reading classic histories expands knowledge and imagination. Key Takeaway Encourage immersive reading of foundational works. Themes education literature history imagination Mood inspirational thoughtful Type academic motivational When to use this quote - University courses - reading groups - personal study plans Key Concepts Classical studies Critical analysis Narrative immersion Questions to Reflect On - What strategies help make challenging texts accessible? - How does vivid imagination aid historical understanding? A Different Perspective Students may find dense texts daunting, limiting engagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Graduate student](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graduate-student/) [Graduate students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graduate-students/) [Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Classical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-classical-4623141/) [Ponder Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ponder-plutarch-4623142/) [Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present/) [Read Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-great-769567/) [She](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/she/) [Students Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students-read-469643/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thomas-carlyle/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/year/) ## Related quotes > [Some years ago, I read Thomas Carlyle's history of the French Revolution, and I was very taken by the way he told the story,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/some-years-ago-i-read-thomas-carlyle-s-history-of-the-french/) [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) > [We are in a time, because of the proliferation of online media and a hundred channels on cable, where teenagers and young adults and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-grayer/we-are-in-a-time-because-of-the-proliferation-of-online-media-and-a/) [Jonathan Grayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-grayer/) > [“Of all the acts of man, repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults . . . is to be conscious of none." (Thomas Carlyle)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/of-all-the-acts-of-man-repentance-is-the-most-divine-the-greatest-of/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [“The best effect of any book is that it excites the reader to self-activity. —THOMAS CARLYLE,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-effect-of-any-book-is-that-it-excites-the-reader-to-self-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“ Music is well said to be the speech of angels. -Thomas Carlyle ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-canfield/music-is-well-said-to-be-the-speech-of-angels-thomas-carlyle/) [Jack Canfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-canfield/) > [“A man lives by believing something: not by debating and arguing about many things. ~ Thomas Carlyle”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherri-lane/a-man-lives-by-believing-something-not-by-debating-and-arguing-about-2/) [Sherri Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherri-lane/) > [“(Quoted by Thomas Carlyle) The rude man requires only to see something going on. 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I believed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-kaplan/i-first-wrote-a-biography-of-thomas-carlyle-and-it-turned-out-i-loved/) [Fred Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-kaplan/) > [“A poor puppy with an empty can tied to his tail, Thomas Carlyle wittily observes, ran and ran on, frightened by the noise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/a-poor-puppy-with-an-empty-can-tied-to-his-tail-thomas-carlyle/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [“I fear no hell, just as I expect no heaven. Nabokov summed up a nonbeliever’s view of the cosmos, and our place in it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tayler/i-fear-no-hell-just-as-i-expect-no-heaven-nabokov-summed-up-a/) [Jeffrey Tayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tayler/) > [“Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. Thomas Carlyle”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bohdi-sanders/our-grand-business-is-not-to-see-what-lies-dimly-at-a-distance-but-to-2/) [Bohdi Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bohdi-sanders/) ## More by H. W. Brands > [I certainly don't think that the heirs of the American Revolution were a particularly noble class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/i-certainly-don-t-think-that-the-heirs-of-the-american-revolution/) [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) > [The Republican Party has moved substantially to the right of where Reagan was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/the-republican-party-has-moved-substantially-to-the-right-of-where/) [H. W. 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Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) > [The president was not the most important political player in the 19th century. Besides Jefferson at the beginning, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/the-president-was-not-the-most-important-political-player-in-the-19th/) [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) > [The Reagan Revolution has had no second act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/the-reagan-revolution-has-had-no-second-act/) [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) > [The shelf life of a seventh-year State of the Union address is about five minutes. Presidents can propose stuff. They're probably not likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/the-shelf-life-of-a-seventh-year-state-of-the-union-address-is-about/) [H. W. 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