NowandthenIamaskedasto“whatbooksastatesmanshouldread。”
andmyansweris，poetryandnovels——includingshortstoriesundertheheadofnovels。Idon’tmeanthatheshouldreadonlynovelsandmodernpoetry。IfhecannotalsoenjoytheHebrewprophetsandtheGreekdramatists，heshouldbesorry。Heoughttoreadinterestingbooksonhistoryandgovernment，andbooksofscienceandphilosophy；
andreallygoodbooksonthesesubjectsareasenthrallingasanyfictioneverwritteninproseorverse。GibbonandMacaulay，Herodotus，ThucydidesandTacitus，theHeimskringla，Froissart，JoinvilleandVillehardouin，ParkmanandMahan，MommsenandRanke——
why！therearescoresandscoresofsolidhistories，thebestintheworld，whichareasabsorbingasthebestofallthenovels，andofaspermanentvalue。ThesamethingistrueofDarwinandHuxleyandCarlyleandEmerson，andpartsofKant，andofvolumeslikeSutherland’s“GrowthoftheMoralInstinct。”orActon’sEssaysandLounsbury’sstudies——hereagainIamnottryingtoclassbookstogether，ormeasureonebyanother，orenumerateoneinathousandofthoseworthreading，butjusttoindicatethatanymanorwomanofsomeintelligenceandsomecultivationcaninsomelineorotherofseriousthought，scientificorhistoricalorphilosophicaloreconomicorgovernmental，findanynumberofbookswhicharecharmingtoread，andwhichinadditiongivethatforwhichhisorhersoulhungers。I
donotforaminutemeanthatthestatesmanoughtnottoreadagreatmanydifferentbooksofthischaracter，justaseveryoneelseshouldreadthem。But，inthefinalevent，thestatesman，andthepublicist，andthereformer，andtheagitatorfornewthings，andtheupholderofwhatisgoodinoldthings，allneedmorethananythingelsetoknowhumannature，toknowtheneedsofthehumansoul；andtheywillfindthisnatureandtheseneedssetforthasnowhereelsebythegreatimaginativewriters，whetherofproseorofpoetry。