The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Search results for “beauty”

Tchaikovsky on the Paradox of Patronage and the Challenge of Retaining Creative Freedom in Commissioned Work
Tchaikovsky on the Paradox of Patronage and the Challenge of Retaining Creative Freedom in Commissioned Work

“I should be guilty of artistic dishonesty were I to abuse my technical skill and give you false coin in exchange for true only with a view to improving my pecuniary situation.”

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Goethe on the Psychology of Color and Emotion
Goethe on the Psychology of Color and Emotion

“Color itself is a degree of darkness.”

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Henry Miller on Reading, the Life of the Mind, and How to Fix Education
Henry Miller on Reading, the Life of the Mind, and How to Fix Education

“Our whole theory of education is based on the absurd notion that we must learn to swim on land before tackling the water. It applies to the pursuit of the arts as well as to the pursuit of knowledge.”

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The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge: A 1939 Manifesto for the Incalculable Rewards of Joyful Curiosity
The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge: A 1939 Manifesto for the Incalculable Rewards of Joyful Curiosity

“Our conception of what is useful may… have become too narrow to be adequate to the roaming and capricious possibilities of the human spirit.”

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The Interplay of Inspiration and Work Ethic: Tchaikovsky on Creativity and Productivity
The Interplay of Inspiration and Work Ethic: Tchaikovsky on Creativity and Productivity

“A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood.”

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Mars and the Mind of Man: Carl Sagan, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke in Cosmic Conversation, 1971
Mars and the Mind of Man: Carl Sagan, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke in Cosmic Conversation, 1971

“It’s part of the nature of man to start with romance and build to a reality.”

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Anaïs Nin on Paris vs. New York, 1939
Anaïs Nin on Paris vs. New York, 1939

“The ivory tower of the artist may be the only stronghold left for human values, cultural treasures, man’s cult of beauty.”

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John Updike on the Universe and Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing
John Updike on the Universe and Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing

“The mystery of being is a permanent mystery, at least given the present state of the human brain.”

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Close to the Machine: Code and the Mesmerism of Building a World from Scratch
Close to the Machine: Code and the Mesmerism of Building a World from Scratch

“…the programmer has no choice but to retreat into some private interior space, closer to the machine…”

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Designers on Top: MoMA’s Paola Antonelli on the Evolution of Design
Designers on Top: MoMA’s Paola Antonelli on the Evolution of Design

The quest for elegance and empowerment, or how design went from process to authorship.

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