Like literary works, and talk about what kind of thoughts and feelings it shows, what kind of spirit of the times it embodies, and what good feelings you get from it?
Rousseau's New Heloise. Kindness and honesty are the most important things in this world. There is also the happiest love, inner peace and logic.
The times are really different from now, not so rich, the information circulation is not so fast, and the requirements for efficiency are not like now.