In March of 1884, Leo Tolstoy resolved in his diary to create a “circle of reading” for himself, probing “the great philosophers of all time and all people” for wisdom on how to live well. This was the birth of his famous Calendar of Wisdom, which he spent the remaining seventeen years of his life piecing together.

Now comes a wonderful modern-day counterpart that falls partway between Tolstoy and Tumblr: Whatever You Are, Be a Good One (public library | IndieBound) — an impossibly charming compendium of 100 wise and timeless thoughts from some of history’s greatest minds, hand-lettered by illustrator and Brain Pickings collaborator Lisa Congdon. The common thread underpinning these quotes — which include such beloved luminaries as Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, Henry James, Anne Lamott, Søren Kierkegaard, and Leo Tolstoy himself — is Congdon’s own sensibility about what it means to live with kindness and integrity, to cherish beauty and the creative spirit, and ultimately to be a good human being.

Here are a few favorites:

From Willa Cather comes this essential reminder of what psychologists have confirmed:

As an enormous admirer of Anne Lamott’s magnificent mind and spirit, I was especially delighted to see this one:

I was also thrilled to see our collaboration, based on my obsessive highlights of Anaïs Nin’s diaries, included:

But perhaps best of all is this simple, monumental reminder from Henry James:

(Jack Kerouac would’ve heartily agreed — indeed, he did, implicitly, in writing: “Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you’re already in heaven now.”)

Whatever You Are, Be a Good One is a treat in its entirety, of which you get out exactly what you put in — when approached lightly and superficially, it is simply a beautiful “gift book” of hand-lettered art; when considered with care, it becomes an existential anchor of timeless wisdom on the art of living.