On Being Human

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 38K words
Chapters: 4

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.On Being Human by Woodrow WilsonAuthor: Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924,Language: English, Class: BJ: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Ethics, Social usages, Etiquette, Religion, Release Date: Feb 1, 2004

Editor's review

This On Being Human is by former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and is an essayistic text in the field of ethics and the philosophy of life. It is not a political treatise but rather the author's reflections on the character, responsibility, and spiritual life of being human, carrying the humanistic concern and moral self-examination of early twentieth-century intellectuals. As a free public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, its greatest value lies in offering low-threshold access to the thought of a historical figure beyond his political identity; the language is elegant and the length short, making it suitable as extensive reading material in the original English. While reading, note how the author links personal cultivation to social responsibility, and compare it with the essay style of his contemporaries. Because the text is early, some ideas carry the limitations of their time; read it with a critical eye, as a window into late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century American elite thought rather than a universal guide to life.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English readers interested in the thought of a U.S. president and in humanistic essays
Learners who wish to practice extensive English reading with a short public-domain text
Beginning readers studying early twentieth-century American ethical and moral discourse

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic political theory or policy analysis
Readers who prefer contemporary plain expression and are unaccustomed to early English prose style
Practical readers seeking concrete, actionable life methodologies

Reading tips

First read through once to grasp the overall tone, then annotate paragraph by paragraph the author's core arguments on character and responsibility.
Consult a small amount of historical material on Wilson's era to help understand the text's context.
Read the views in the text against contemporary humanistic essays, noting points of agreement and doubt.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a political work by Wilson?

No. It is an essayistic text in the category of ethics and reflections on life, concerned with the character and spiritual life of being human rather than policy positions or analysis of political institutions. It should be understood within the tradition of humanistic essays.

How difficult is the English, and what level is it suitable for?

The text is early, with rather elegant sentence patterns; the vocabulary is not obscure, but the style is distant from contemporary English. It is more suitable for readers with a college-level English reading foundation who can handle long sentences with a dictionary; beginners may use an annotated edition or read slowly.

What should be noted when reading a public-domain ebook?

The Project Gutenberg edition is free and directly accessible but usually lacks a modern introduction and annotations. It is advisable to prepare background material, note typographical differences, and treat ideas with the limitations of their time critically.

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About the author

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924 Author

Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) was an American political figure and writer whose publicly documented biographical details are limited in the materials available here. This site holds nine of his works, spanning studies of political institutions, wartime speeches, and state of the union addresses. Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics is notable for its institutional analysis of how Congress operates; Why We Are at War and In Our First Year of the War collect his wartime messages to Congress, written in a solemn tone with clear argumentation; The New Freedom, The Road Away from Revolution, and On Being Human present his political ideas and humanistic reflections. Overall, his writing combines scholarly order with a speaker's persuasiveness and remains important for understanding early twentieth-century American political discourse.