Happy 126th Birthday to C.S. Lewis, born on this day, November 29, 1898.

In 1962, he was asked what books most influenced him.

He responded with a list of 10 books.

They're Great Books. I recommend you read them -- or, at least, read this thread about them: 10. George MacDonald's Phantastes

A fantasy novel about a young man searching for his female ideal in a dream-world.

Lewis once said: "I have never concealed the fact that I regard [MacDonald] as my master... I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him."

Long before Tolkien’s fantasy worlds enchanted us, other stories enchanted him.

Ever wonder which books sparked his imagination?

Here's a thread of 15 works — some high-brow, some low, all fascinating — that shaped Tolkien's world: 1. Beowulf

Beowulf was Tolkien's academic specialty, and he consciously drew upon it in LOTR.

Ents, orcs & elves are all taken from Beowulf.

Gollum is partly based on the monster Grendel.

And the dragon Smaug (in The Hobbit) mirrors Beowulf's dragon.

But that's not all.

Leonardo da Vinci was a true polymathic genius, not just as an artist and inventor, but also as a thoughtful writer

Scattered in his Notebooks are memorable aphorisms on life, philosophy, and art.

Here are 15 of his best. 🧵 15. Impatience, the mother of stupidity, praises brevity.

Happy 170th Birthday (one day late) to one of literature's most acid pens, Oscar Wilde.

A thread of the controversial playwright's most insulting (and amusing) quotations.

Which is your favorite?🧵👇 20. "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their life a mimicry, their passions a quotation." - De Profundis

In 1887, Mark Twain was asked what books every boy and girl should read.

He responded with a list of seven.

It's a list of Great Books, and they're not just for kids.

I think adults should read them, too -- or, at least, read this thread about them: 🧵 7. Defoe's The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

A timeless shipwrecked adventure story, Crusoe faces challenge after challenge on his desert island.

Crusoe's saga is a testament to the importance of perseverance, ingenuity, and never giving up.

Before he was a leader, Napoleon Bonaparte was a reader.

He read *everything* -- romances, plays, histories, myths.

A thread of (some of) Napoleon's favorite works of literature. 🧵👇

(Inspired by "Napoleon's Library" by Louis Sarkozy - an interesting book, I recommend it). 10. Goethe's Sorrows of Young Werther

Napoleon idolized Goethe and even summoned him for a meeting in 1808.

Werther is an epistolary novel, chronicling the obsessions and failures of a highly emotional young man, struggling to cope with a failed romance.

He's "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history."

At least, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says so.

On today, his 315th birthday, a thread of the most quotable wit and wisdom of the inimitable Dr. Samuel Johnson. 🧵👇 20. "A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still."

~Dr. Johnson, Boswell's Life

Happy Father's Day!

Celebrate with this thread of fatherly advice from one of the most quotable books of all time:

The Earl of Chesterfield's "Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman." 🧵👇 15. "I recommend you to take care of the minutes: for hours will take care of themselves."

Twelve of Literature's Most Underrated Classics (from your suggestions).

A thread: 🧵👇 But first: most of these books are highly (and properly) esteemed.

They just have fallen off mainstream classics reading lists.

So, when I declare these titles "underrated," that's all I mean -- that they're often overlooked and not as widely read as they should be.

Happy Birthday, William Butler Yeats, born June 13, 1865.

His poems possess a lyricism and emotional intensity that is nonpareil and an insight into the modern world that often feels prophetic.

A thread of excerpts from my favorite W.B. Yeats poems: 🧵👇 10. When You Are Old, by W.B. Yeats (1893)

"A gentleman never hurts anyone's feelings, 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺," Oscar Wilde once wrote.

A thread of the playwright's most insulting (and amusing) quotations.

Which is your favorite?🧵👇 25. “I never saw anybody take so long to dress, and with such little result.” - The Importance of Being Earnest

It's been said that C.S. Lewis possessed "the rare gift of being able to make righteousness readable."

A thread of some of his most memorable quotes.

Which is your favorite? 🧵👇 1. "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal."

Today is G.K. Chesterton's birthday, May 29, 1874.

Let's get him trending today.

In this thread, I have collected 25 of his best-loved quotes.

Which is your favorite? Share it, tell me about it, or post your own. 🧵👇 “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”

~G.K. Chesterton
1/

Poet Wilfred Owen was killed-in-action in 1918, one week before the First World War's end.

Among his papers was found, unfinished, what would become the preface to his posthumous poetry collection.

Read on, for a Memorial Day thread on the War Poets: 🧵👇 Owens wrote:

"This book is not about heroes.

English Poetry is not yet fit to speak of them.

Nor is it about deeds or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, dominion or power, except War... 2/

In 1903, Jack London published a newspaper column with advice for young writers.

It is full of gold.

I've panned it for you and picked out 9 golden nuggets: 🧵👇 Rule #1: Don't Wait For Inspiration

"Don’t loaf and invite inspiration.

Light out after it with a club, and if you don’t get it you will nonetheless get something that looks remarkably like it."

Why settle for one Great Book, when you can get *three*?

A thread of the Best Classic Literary Trilogies:

(You'll want to bookmark this for your summer reading list) 🧵👇 15. The Space Trilogy (1938-1945)

C.S. Lewis's "Out of the Silent Planet," "Perelandra," and "That Hideous Strength" blend science fiction with Christian theology to explore the corruption of human nature and the possibilities of redemption.

If you want your children to be:

• curious
• courageous
• compassionate &
• in love with reading

You need to inspire them (and yourself!) with these classic books. 🧵👇 But first:

The original versions of these works are masterpieces, but they may not be right for all reading levels.

All are available in children's abridged editions.

Check the publisher's age guidelines and find an edition that works for you.

The best books go out with a bang.

A Thread of the 50 Best Closing Lines in Classic Literature. 🧵 👇 1. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

~F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

2. "He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."

~George Orwell, 1984

A mother's love can move mountains.

In ancient myth, sometimes literally.

For Mother's Day, a thread of the greatest moments of motherly devotion in mythology. 🧵👇 10. Venus

In the Aeneid, Venus repeatedly intervenes to rescue her mortal son, the hero Aeneas.

Whether it's warning him of Troy's fall, tending to his wounds, or delivering special armor on the eve of battle, Venus is a strong candidate for mythical mother of the year.

Nothing like a good hook to reel in the reader!

A Thread of the 50 Best Opening Lines in Classic Literature. 🧵 👇 1. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

2. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

~Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

In 1934, an aspiring writer asked Ernest Hemingway what books he should read.

He responded with a list of 16 classic works.

They're Great Books. I suggest you read them.

Or, at least, read this thread about them: When Hemingway handed this list to his young writer friend, he noted:

"If you haven’t read these, you just aren’t educated...

“Some may bore you, others might inspire you.

"And others are so beautifully written they’ll make you feel it’s hopeless for you to try to write...