--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A classical work doesn't ever have to be…" description: "\"A classical work doesn't ever have to be understood entirely. But those who are educated and who are still educating themselves must desire to learn mo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlege_classical_a-classical-work-doesn-t-ever-have-to-be_1442889.png" --- # A classical work doesn't ever have to be understood… ![“A classical work doesn't ever have to be understood entirely. But those who are educated and who are still educating themselves must desire to learn more and more from it.” quote by Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlege_classical_a-classical-work-doesn-t-ever-have-to-be_1442889.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlege_classical_a-classical-work-doesn-t-ever-have-to-be_1442889.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlege_classical_a-classical-work-doesn-t-ever-have-to-be_1442889.png) > “A classical work doesn't ever have to be understood entirely. But those who are educated and who are still educating themselves must desire to learn more and more from it.” [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding a classic fully is impossible, yet educated readers should continually seek deeper insight. **In simple terms:** Never fully grasp a classic, but keep learning from it. Key Takeaway Pursue ongoing study of classic works. Themes education literature growth Mood intellectual curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic study - personal enrichment - teaching - literary analysis Key Concepts humanism interpretation critical theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance analysis with appreciation? - What new perspectives can you uncover? A Different Perspective Some may argue over‑analysis can obscure enjoyment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Classical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classical/) [Classical Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classical-work-2446706/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire to learn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-to-learn/) [Educated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated/) [Educated Educating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated-educating-5167968/) [Educating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educating/) [Educating Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educating-desire-2446708/) [Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood/) ## Related quotes > [“A classical work of literature can never be completely understood. But those who are educated and educating themselves must always desire to learn more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schlegel/a-classical-work-of-literature-can-never-be-completely-understood-but/) [Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schlegel/) > [I'd like to do some more classical work if I do some more theatre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-sutton/i-d-like-to-do-some-more-classical-work-if-i-do-some-more-theatre/) [Sarah Sutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-sutton/) > [“institutionalised learning in schools and institutions can tend to undermine the desire to learn, at least in certain contexts and under certain forms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knud-illeris/institutionalised-learning-in-schools-and-institutions-can-tend-to/) [Knud Illeris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/knud-illeris/) > [I've always been an engineer devoted to the potential of advanced technologies. Like most engineers, I have a keen sense of curiosity and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/min-kao/i-ve-always-been-an-engineer-devoted-to-the-potential-of-advanced/) [Min Kao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/min-kao/) > [“Desire great things in life. Expect great things in life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/desire-great-things-in-life-expect-great-things-in-life/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“ Seven Steps of Relationship Development For people with social anxiety, dating can be particularly stressful. There are many unknowns: “Does this person share…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-berent/seven-steps-of-relationship-development-for-people-with-social/) [Jonathan Berent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-berent/) > [Always desire to learn something useful. --Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/always-desire-to-learn-something-useful-sophocles/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Experience fails to teach where there is no desire to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/experience-fails-to-teach-where-there-is-no-desire-to-learn/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“There are always exceptions to that broad generalization, but the majority of human beings learn from experience, not precept, and until someone experiences the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-always-exceptions-to-that-broad-generalization-but-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I had declared in public my desire to be a writer ... I wanted to develop a curiosity that was oceanic and insatiable as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-had-declared-in-public-my-desire-to-be-a-writer-i-wanted-to-develop/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [For every man who has learned to fight in arms will desire to learn the proper arrangement of an army, which is the sequel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/for-every-man-who-has-learned-to-fight-in-arms-will-desire-to-learn/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“I stayed because there was no other place I could learn what I desired. Mere whipping could not keep me away from it.” There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/i-stayed-because-there-was-no-other-place-i-could-learn-what-i/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [The method of instruction in Scouting is that of creating in the boy the desire to learn for himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-baden-powell/the-method-of-instruction-in-scouting-is-that-of-creating-in-the-boy/) [Robert Baden-Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-baden-powell/) > [“Education, is not just simply the progress of school, it is having the ability and desire to learn on your own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rawley-kramer/education-is-not-just-simply-the-progress-of-school-it-is-having-the/) [Rawley Kramer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rawley-kramer/) > [I have learned that you can go anywhere you want to go and do anything you want to do and buy all the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c-2/i-have-learned-that-you-can-go-anywhere-you-want-to-go-and-do/) [C JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c-2/) ## More by Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel > [The symmetry and organization of history teaches us that mankind, during its existence and development, genuinely was and became an individual, a person. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/the-symmetry-and-organization-of-history-teaches-us-that-mankind/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Both in their origins and effects, boredom and stuffy air resemble each other. They are usually generated whenever a large number of people gather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/both-in-their-origins-and-effects-boredom-and-stuffy-air-resemble/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Every good man progressively becomes God. To become God, to be man, and to educate oneself, are expressions that are synonymous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/every-good-man-progressively-becomes-god-to-become-god-to-be-man-and/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [The naive is what is or appears to be natural, individual, or classical to the point of irony or to the point of continuous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/the-naive-is-what-is-or-appears-to-be-natural-individual-or-classical/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Women are treated as unjustly in poetry as in life. The feminine ones are not idealistic, and the idealistic not feminine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/women-are-treated-as-unjustly-in-poetry-as-in-life-the-feminine-ones/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [In every good poem everything must be both deliberate and instinctive. That is how the poem becomes ideal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/in-every-good-poem-everything-must-be-both-deliberate-and-instinctive/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Only he who possesses a personal religion, an original view of infinity, can be an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/only-he-who-possesses-a-personal-religion-an-original-view-of/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Wit as an instrument of revenge is as infamous as art is as a means of sensual titillation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/wit-as-an-instrument-of-revenge-is-as-infamous-as-art-is-as-a-means/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Where philosophy ends, poetry must commence. There should not be a common point of view, a natural manner of thinking which standsin contrast to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/where-philosophy-ends-poetry-must-commence-there-should-not-be-a/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Wit is an explosion of the compound spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/wit-is-an-explosion-of-the-compound-spirit/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Life is writing. The sole purpose of mankind is to engrave the thoughts of divinity onto the tablets of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/life-is-writing-the-sole-purpose-of-mankind-is-to-engrave-the/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Religion can emerge in all forms of feeling: here wild anger, there the sweetest pain; here consuming hatred, there the childlike smile of serene…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/religion-can-emerge-in-all-forms-of-feeling-here-wild-anger-there-the/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [Women do not have as great a need for poetry because their own essence is poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/women-do-not-have-as-great-a-need-for-poetry-because-their-own/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [When the author has no idea of what to reply to a critic, he then likes to say: you could not do it better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/when-the-author-has-no-idea-of-what-to-reply-to-a-critic-he-then/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [One mentions many artists who are actually art works of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/one-mentions-many-artists-who-are-actually-art-works-of-nature/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) [Explore all 186 Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) ## More Classical quotes > [I'm very fond of classical music, especially Mozart. I find it relaxes me and helps me concentrate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guler-sabanci/i-m-very-fond-of-classical-music-especially-mozart-i-find-it-relaxes/) [Guler Sabanci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guler-sabanci/) > [It's something he used to say when he was happy. It could be a very, very simple day. We might be sitting out on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-grant/it-s-something-he-used-to-say-when-he-was-happy-it-could-be-a-very/) [Jennifer Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-grant/) > [I bring my classical training - some of it, but not all of it - and also my background and culture, to spirituals. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-battle/i-bring-my-classical-training-some-of-it-but-not-all-of-it-and-also/) [Kathleen Battle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-battle/) > [To become a classical ballerina, you have to move to New York when you're 12 or 11 and that becomes your life. I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-garner/to-become-a-classical-ballerina-you-have-to-move-to-new-york-when-you/) [Jennifer Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-garner/) > [I studied classical opera, so I was always singing in Italian and German and French.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wang-leehom/i-studied-classical-opera-so-i-was-always-singing-in-italian-and/) [Wang Leehom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wang-leehom/) > [I listen to classical music very much. There's a lot of jazz that I don't enjoy listening to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-konitz/i-listen-to-classical-music-very-much-there-s-a-lot-of-jazz-that-i/) [Lee Konitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-konitz/) > [But if you listen to great piano players, both classical and jazz, there's a huge range of dynamics and colors and emotional expression that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-burton/but-if-you-listen-to-great-piano-players-both-classical-and-jazz/) [Gary Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-burton/) > [I would say 'Home' is a lot richer and deeper than my earlier classical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anoushka-shankar/i-would-say-home-is-a-lot-richer-and-deeper-than-my-earlier-classical/) [Anoushka Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anoushka-shankar/) > [“For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-eyes-we-have-no-models-in-the-remotely-antique/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [First of all, we have to go back to the classical time control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-karpov/first-of-all-we-have-to-go-back-to-the-classical-time-control/) [Anatoly Karpov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-karpov/) > [Well, I very rarely watch classical adaptations, because they usually do very good books, and a lot of the things they do... I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marsh/well-i-very-rarely-watch-classical-adaptations-because-they-usually/) [Jean Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-marsh/) > [I like to incorporate classical songs that people know and throw a beat and some guitars on it to make it real crazy. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-keys/i-like-to-incorporate-classical-songs-that-people-know-and-throw-a/) [Alicia Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-keys/) > [I love Adele and Lykke Li. I also listen to classical music as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/birdy/i-love-adele-and-lykke-li-i-also-listen-to-classical-music-as-well/) [Birdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/birdy/) > [Andres Segovia, the great name for guitar, he put classical guitar on the map. He was the proponent of it, the best in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-benson/andres-segovia-the-great-name-for-guitar-he-put-classical-guitar-on/) [George Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-benson/) > [I did stand-up for a long time, and I did classical theater. As much time as you could spend on a stage will always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-durand/i-did-stand-up-for-a-long-time-and-i-did-classical-theater-as-much/) [Kevin Durand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-durand/) [Browse all 601 Classical quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classical/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A classical work doesn't ever have to be understood entirely. 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