The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Search results for “failure”

Zadie Smith on Optimism and Despair
Zadie Smith on Optimism and Despair

“Progress is never permanent, will always be threatened, must be redoubled, restated and reimagined if it is to survive.”

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The 7 Loveliest Children’s Books of 2017
The 7 Loveliest Children’s Books of 2017

Profound and poetic illustrated celebrations of solitude, self-possession, friendship, and our place in the cosmos.

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The Vampire Problem: A Brilliant Thought Experiment Illustrating the Paradox of Transformative Experience
The Vampire Problem: A Brilliant Thought Experiment Illustrating the Paradox of Transformative Experience

“Many of [life’s] big decisions involve choices to have experiences that teach us things we cannot know about from any other source but the experience itself.”

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Alain de Botton on Infatuation
Alain de Botton on Infatuation

“The only people who can still strike us as normal are those we don’t yet know very well.”

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The Measure of All Things: How Two French Astronomers Nearly Lost Their Lives Revolutionizing the World with the Invention of the Meter
The Measure of All Things: How Two French Astronomers Nearly Lost Their Lives Revolutionizing the World with the Invention of the Meter

“The fundamental fallacy of utopianism is to assume that everyone wants to live in the same utopia.”

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Blob: An Irreverent and Insightful Modern Fable About Beauty, Ugliness, the Paths to Acceptance, and How Admiration Hijacks Our Sense of Self
Blob: An Irreverent and Insightful Modern Fable About Beauty, Ugliness, the Paths to Acceptance, and How Admiration Hijacks Our Sense of Self

A playful and profound tale about the struggle for belonging.

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Carl Sagan on the Power of Books and Reading as the Path to Democracy
Carl Sagan on the Power of Books and Reading as the Path to Democracy

“Books are key to understanding the world and participating in a democratic society.”

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The Paper-Flower Tree: An Illustrated Ode to the Courage of Withstanding Cynicism and the Generative Power of the Affectionate Imagination
The Paper-Flower Tree: An Illustrated Ode to the Courage of Withstanding Cynicism and the Generative Power of the Affectionate Imagination

A lovely reminder that we perceive the world not as it is but as we are.

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Bertrand Russell on the Two Types of Knowledge and What Makes a Fulfilling Life
Bertrand Russell on the Two Types of Knowledge and What Makes a Fulfilling Life

“In all forms of love we wish to have knowledge of what is loved, not for purposes of power but for the ecstasy of contemplation… This may indeed be made the touchstone of any love that is valuable.”

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Rebecca Solnit on Breaking Silence as Our Mightiest Weapon Against Oppression
Rebecca Solnit on Breaking Silence as Our Mightiest Weapon Against Oppression

“We are our stories, stories that can be both prison and the crowbar to break open the door of that prison.”

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