Classic lit. is great if you know what to read. Think Chaucer, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Mellvile (I wouldn’t say Dickens is a must though – found GE rather boring actually). IMHO it should stay.
Just to illustrate:
“All is fair in love and war” (lots of people think it a Shakespeare quote btw. while in fact it’s from The Knight’s tale, Canterbury tales by G. Chaucer)
“We Are Seven” by W. Wordsworth (just read it, the rythm of the poem is amazing!)
“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by S.T. Coleridge (great tale, great language, great moral)
And finally, my favourite quote of all, from H. Mellvile’s Moby Dick:
“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off — then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to
the ship.”
What I wanted to say by all of this is that not only does old lit. often have relevance still in our lives (the Moby Dick quote often does for me for instance), but it is also beautiful in form and a pleasure to read, and under no circumstances should it be downplayed!