The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads by Maria Popova

The Power of a Thin Skin
The Power of a Thin Skin

“To be thin-skinned is to feel keenly, to perceive things that might go unseen, unnoticed, that others might prefer not to notice.”

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How the Sea Came to Be: An Illustrated Singsong Celebration of the Evolution of Life on Our Pale Blue Dot
How the Sea Came to Be: An Illustrated Singsong Celebration of the Evolution of Life on Our Pale Blue Dot

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Wonder Beyond Why: The Majesty and Mystery of the Birds-of-Paradise
Wonder Beyond Why: The Majesty and Mystery of the Birds-of-Paradise

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In the Dark: A Lyrical Illustrated Invitation to Find the Light Behind the Fear
In the Dark: A Lyrical Illustrated Invitation to Find the Light Behind the Fear

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Nick Cave on the Two Pillars of a Meaningful Life
Nick Cave on the Two Pillars of a Meaningful Life

“Cultivating a questioning mind, of which conversation is the chief instrument, enriches our relationship with the world.”

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The Sky and the Soul: 19th-Century Norwegian Artist Knud Baade’s Transcendent Cloudscapes
The Sky and the Soul: 19th-Century Norwegian Artist Knud Baade’s Transcendent Cloudscapes

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How to Bless Each Other: Poet and Philosopher John O’Donohue on the Light Within Us and Between Us
How to Bless Each Other: Poet and Philosopher John O’Donohue on the Light Within Us and Between Us

“The structures of our experience are the windows into the divine. When we are true to the call of experience, we are true to God.”

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Poetic Ecology and the Biology of Wonder
Poetic Ecology and the Biology of Wonder

“The real disconnect is not between our human nature and all the other beings; it is between our image of our nature and our real nature.”

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The Mind in the Machine: John von Neumann, the Inception of AI, and the Limits of Logic
The Mind in the Machine: John von Neumann, the Inception of AI, and the Limits of Logic

“Something very small, so tiny and insignificant as to be almost invisible in its origin, can nonetheless open up a new and radiant perspective, because through it a higher order of being is trying to express itself.”

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How to Apologize: Reflections on Forgiveness, Self-Forgiveness, and the Paradox of Doing the Right Thing
How to Apologize: Reflections on Forgiveness, Self-Forgiveness, and the Paradox of Doing the Right Thing

“It’s permitted to receive solace for whatever you did or didn’t do, pitiful, beautiful human.”

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