--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We go to literature because it shows us…" description: "\"We go to literature because it shows us some set of humane values. It is showing us how to live.\" — Matthew Specktor" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/matthew-specktor-12423_books_we-go-to-literature-because-it-shows-us_120132.jpg" --- # We go to literature because it shows us some set of humane… ![“We go to literature because it shows us some set of humane values. It is showing us how to live.” quote by Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/matthew-specktor-12423_books_we-go-to-literature-because-it-shows-us_120132.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/matthew-specktor-12423_books_we-go-to-literature-because-it-shows-us_120132.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/matthew-specktor-12423_books_we-go-to-literature-because-it-shows-us_120132.jpg) > “We go to literature because it shows us some set of humane values. It is showing us how to live.” [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature functions as a moral compass, presenting values and models for how to conduct one's life. **In simple terms:** Stories teach how to live. Key Takeaway Reading shapes ethical outlook. Themes literature ethics humanism education Mood inspirational reflective Type didactic philosophical When to use this quote - high school curricula - self‑help reading - cultural integration programs Key Concepts value transmission Practical Applications - Select diverse narratives - Reflect on characters' choices Questions to Reflect On - What criteria determine which values literature should convey? - Can literature replace lived experience in moral development? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [We must restore the sacredness of the family as a bedrock of humane values everywhere, in peace as well as in war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/we-must-restore-the-sacredness-of-the-family-as-a-bedrock-of-humane/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Sacrificing one's life on the altar of literature is in some ways like sacrificing a goat to some malicious spirit. It's not always a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/sacrificing-one-s-life-on-the-altar-of-literature-is-in-some-ways/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [Literature is well enough, as a time-passer, and for the improvement and general elevation and purification of mankind, but it has no practical value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/literature-is-well-enough-as-a-time-passer-and-for-the-improvement/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It is doubtful whether mankind are most indebted to those who like Bacon and Butler dig the gold from the mine of literature, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/it-is-doubtful-whether-mankind-are-most-indebted-to-those-who-like/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“I do not give a damn whether a person is a scientist, a philosopher or a theologian If that person cannot recognize the basic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/i-do-not-give-a-damn-whether-a-person-is-a-scientist-a-philosopher-or/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The truth is that schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders. This is a great mystery to me because thousands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/the-truth-is-that-schools-don-t-really-teach-anything-except-how-to/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [I don't have a hands-on fondness for animals. I did not grow up bonded to any particular nonhuman animal. I like them and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-pacelle/i-don-t-have-a-hands-on-fondness-for-animals-i-did-not-grow-up-bonded/) [Wayne Pacelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-pacelle/) > [I like the Swiss because by and large they are more humane than the other people aming whom I have lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-like-the-swiss-because-by-and-large-they-are-more-humane-than-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/you-find-as-you-look-around-the-world-that-every-single-bit-of/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [We may observe that, in displaying the praises of any humane, beneficent man, there is one circumstance which never fails to be amply insisted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/we-may-observe-that-in-displaying-the-praises-of-any-humane/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Yet hold it more humane, more heav'nly, first, By winning words to conquer willing hearts, And make persuasion do the work of fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/yet-hold-it-more-humane-more-heav-nly-first-by-winning-words-to/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [To strive to be perfect is going down the road of self-destruction. To strive to be yourself is going down the road of greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-harden-me/to-strive-to-be-perfect-is-going-down-the-road-of-self-destruction-to/) Isaiah Harden (Me > [Let's dream for living in a world where animals are equally respected as humans. It's also high time for us to realise the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chandrababu-vs/let-s-dream-for-living-in-a-world-where-animals-are-equally-respected/) [Chandrababu VS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chandrababu-vs/) > [I am convinced that we will never build a democratic state based on rule of law if we do not at the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/i-am-convinced-that-we-will-never-build-a-democratic-state-based-on/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) ## More by Matthew Specktor > [I've always found too that somewhere in whatever you've just written lies the seed of what you're going to write next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/i-ve-always-found-too-that-somewhere-in-whatever-you-ve-just-written/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [My own sense is that fiction is inching its way over to join poetry on the cultural margin. It's an area of passionate concern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/my-own-sense-is-that-fiction-is-inching-its-way-over-to-join-poetry/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [It's hard to imagine there's a place for great writing inside a multinational conglomerate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/it-s-hard-to-imagine-there-s-a-place-for-great-writing-inside-a/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [Our need to identify with representative figures is something that never goes away. We still find those in novels. We find those in television.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/our-need-to-identify-with-representative-figures-is-something-that/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [100 million dollars used to be the limit of what a movie might cost; now they routinely cost 300 million. 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It can give them something to push off of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/even-though-i-think-writers-can-sometimes-thrive-from-being-misread/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [I'm going to write what I feel like writing, which is a great place to be. But it can be hard to get there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/i-m-going-to-write-what-i-feel-like-writing-which-is-a-great-place-to/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [The feature film business, the studio film business, feels to me like there's just nowhere else to go. It's like a record that's just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/the-feature-film-business-the-studio-film-business-feels-to-me-like/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [There's a kind of perverseness or betrayal in that idea that art is somehow superior to life. Or that it's more important to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/there-s-a-kind-of-perverseness-or-betrayal-in-that-idea-that-art-is/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [Great books are written from a sense that there is nothing to lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/great-books-are-written-from-a-sense-that-there-is-nothing-to-lose/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [The '90s were a time when not just the movie business, but every aspect of American life, became a lot more corporate. There's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/the-90s-were-a-time-when-not-just-the-movie-business-but-every-aspect/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [Hollywood is famous for breeding monsters, and having worked in the business, I've known a lot of them. But only intermittently have I ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/hollywood-is-famous-for-breeding-monsters-and-having-worked-in-the/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [I don't want to say that having power is overrated, but powerlessness can give rise to a different kind of authority, and that's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/i-don-t-want-to-say-that-having-power-is-overrated-but-powerlessness/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) [Explore all 55 Matthew Specktor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. 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