What Is Your Culture to Me?

What Is Your Culture to Me? by Charles Dudley Warner opens with a wry, persuasive challenge to the usefulness of classical learning in a changing America. Delivered as a Hamilton College address in 1872, this short literary essay mixes anecdote, humor, and calm indignation as Warner recalls his own ascent to the orator’s platform, the Latin flourishes of college life, and the quiet disappearance of idealism into the demands of the world. Blending cultural criticism with personal memoir, Warner examines the tension between a lofty conception of culture—classical languages, rhetoric, and the liberal arts—and the practical indifference of a society driven by commerce and utility. He traces how graduates of mid‑19th century America carried at once classical sympathies and revolutionary ideas into a nation reshaped by industry and social change, arguing that true culture resists sordid aspirations even as it must survive public apathy. Ideal for listeners of essay/short nonfiction and literature, this audiobook will appeal to anyone interested in the history of education, cultural debate, or eloquent public speech. Warner’s graceful voice rewards reflection and offers a timely meditation on what learning means in any age.