“A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.”Mark Twain · Scrieri și caiete · 1897 · Scrieri și caiete, Caietele (1897)
Classics are books we praise out of social obligation, not from the experience of reading them.
Twain mocks the social status of the 'classic': people respect it out of cultural obligation, not pleasure. It's a book we praise without having opened it, because good taste demands it. For instance, many call 'War and Peace' a masterpiece, but few have read it cover to cover; it's enough to know it's important.
Why it matters It helps us recognize the hypocrisy in our culture and choose books out of genuine interest, not snobbery.