The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Search results for “optimism”

We Are Singing Stardust: Carl Sagan on the Story of Humanity’s Greatest Message and How the Golden Record Was Born
We Are Singing Stardust: Carl Sagan on the Story of Humanity’s Greatest Message and How the Golden Record Was Born

“We [are] a species endowed with hope and perseverance, at least a little intelligence, substantial generosity and a palpable zest to make contact with the cosmos.”

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Henry James on Memory, Growing Older, and What Happiness Really Means
Henry James on Memory, Growing Older, and What Happiness Really Means

“I have led too serious a life; but that perhaps, after all, preserves one’s youth.”

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The 13 Best Children’s, Illustrated, and Picture Books of 2013
The 13 Best Children’s, Illustrated, and Picture Books of 2013

Young Mark Twain’s lost gem, the universe in illustrated dioramas, Maurice Sendak’s posthumous love letter to the world, Kafka for kids, and more treats for all ages.

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Scientists and Writers Answer Children’s Simple, Surprisingly Profound Questions About How Life Works
Scientists and Writers Answer Children’s Simple, Surprisingly Profound Questions About How Life Works

Why we cry, how we know we aren’t dreaming right now, where the universe ends, what books are for, and more answers to deceptively simple yet profound questions.

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The Perils of Plans: Why Creativity Requires Leaping into the Unknown
The Perils of Plans: Why Creativity Requires Leaping into the Unknown

“The job—as well as the plight, and the unexpected joy—of the artist is to embrace uncertainty, to be sharpened and honed by it.”

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The Futurist Cookbook: 11 Rules for a Perfect Meal and an Anti-Pasta Manifesto circa 1932
The Futurist Cookbook: 11 Rules for a Perfect Meal and an Anti-Pasta Manifesto circa 1932

Optimism at the table, or why the dark void of the soul can’t be stuffed with spaghetti.

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The 13 Best Science and Technology Books of 2013
The 13 Best Science and Technology Books of 2013

The wonders of the gut, why our brains are wired to be social, what poetry and math have in common, swarm intelligence vs. “God,” and more.

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The 13 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2013
The 13 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2013

How to think like Sherlock Holmes, make better mistakes, master the pace of productivity, find fulfilling work, stay sane, and more.

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Stay: The Social Contagion of Suicide and How to Preempt It
Stay: The Social Contagion of Suicide and How to Preempt It

“We are indebted to one another and the debt is a kind of faith — a beautiful, difficult, strange faith. We believe each other into being.”

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Albert Camus on Happiness, Unhappiness, and Our Self-Imposed Prisons
Albert Camus on Happiness, Unhappiness, and Our Self-Imposed Prisons

“Those who prefer their principles over their happiness, they refuse to be happy outside the conditions they seem to have attached to their happiness.”

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