My reading for school hasn't turned up anything ridiculous or absurd lately. I can think of two explanations: either all my course material is thought-prokoving, stimulating and relevant; or I've been brainwashed into absorbing the law without contempt.

I think it's the former. Here's a neat quote from Copyright.

It is wise in any state to encourage letters, and the painful researches of learned men.
Millar v. Taylor, 1769