Abstract: People discussing about classics tend to confound reading classics with the canon. Many believe that the key to effective reading of classics is the canon. However, deciding on the canon is only the first step, which cannot prevent absence of thinking in the reading process. Unthinking reading of classics arises from (1) the confusion of classics reading with general reading; (2) mistaking cognition for thinking; and (3) ignoring the complex meaning potentials in classics that defy any attempt at reading for a certainty. We hold that only when reading classics is an independent and free thinking activity can classics play their thought-provoking role.