The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Search results for “big magic”

Joni Mitchell on Freedom, the Source of Creativity, and the Dark Side of Success
Joni Mitchell on Freedom, the Source of Creativity, and the Dark Side of Success

“How does a person create a song? A lot of it is being open… to encounter and to… be in touch with the miraculous.”

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The Best-Kept Secret of Clichés: How to Upgrade Our Uses and Abolish Our Abuses of Language
The Best-Kept Secret of Clichés: How to Upgrade Our Uses and Abolish Our Abuses of Language

A manifesto against mindless language, or how to get off autopilot in the art of communication.

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A “Dynamic Interaction”: How We Learn (and Unlearn) the Language of Love
A “Dynamic Interaction”: How We Learn (and Unlearn) the Language of Love

From developmental psychology to Timothy Leary, a reframing of love as deliberate mastery rather than magical thinking.

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Shonda Rhimes on Dreaming vs. Doing, the Tradeoffs of Success, and the Blinders of Entitlement
Shonda Rhimes on Dreaming vs. Doing, the Tradeoffs of Success, and the Blinders of Entitlement

“You want to be a writer? A writer is someone who writes every day — so start writing.”

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Pete Seeger on Combinatorial Creativity, Originality, Equality, and the Art of Dot-Connecting
Pete Seeger on Combinatorial Creativity, Originality, Equality, and the Art of Dot-Connecting

“All of us, we’re links in a chain. And if we do our job right, there will be many, many links to come.”

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Maurice Sendak’s Rare, Sensual Illustrations for Herman Melville’s Greatest Commercial Failure and Most Personally Beloved Book
Maurice Sendak’s Rare, Sensual Illustrations for Herman Melville’s Greatest Commercial Failure and Most Personally Beloved Book

“The strongest and fieriest emotions of life defy all analytical insight.”

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How to Get Rich: Paul Graham on Money vs. Wealth
How to Get Rich: Paul Graham on Money vs. Wealth

Debunking the pie fallacy, or why there’s more to success than giving people what they want.

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Malcolm Gladwell on Criticism, Tolerance, and Changing Your Mind
Malcolm Gladwell on Criticism, Tolerance, and Changing Your Mind

“That’s your responsibility as a person, as a human being — to constantly be updating your positions on as many things as possible. And if you don’t contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you’re not thinking.”

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How Diego Rivera Met the Fierce Teenage Frida Kahlo and Fell in Love with Her Years Later
How Diego Rivera Met the Fierce Teenage Frida Kahlo and Fell in Love with Her Years Later

“I did not know it then, but Frida had already become the most important fact in my life. And she would continue to be, up to the moment she died…”

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Carson McCullers’s Little-Known 1964 Illustrated Children’s Book
Carson McCullers’s Little-Known 1964 Illustrated Children’s Book

Refreshingly direct verses with a strong existential bend and an undercurrent of science and astronomy.

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