The Marginalian
The Marginalian

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E.O. Wilson on How We Give Meaning to Life
E.O. Wilson on How We Give Meaning to Life

“We will find a way eventually to live with our inborn turmoil, and perhaps find pleasure in viewing it as the primary source of our creativity.”

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Chinua Achebe on the Meaning of Life and the Writer’s Responsibility in the World
Chinua Achebe on the Meaning of Life and the Writer’s Responsibility in the World

The difference between blind optimism and the urge to improve the world’s imperfection.

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Leo Tolstoy on Finding Meaning in a Meaningless World
Leo Tolstoy on Finding Meaning in a Meaningless World

“For man to be able to live he must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.”

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Life Is Like Blue Jelly: Margaret Mead Discovers the Meaning of Existence in a Dream
Life Is Like Blue Jelly: Margaret Mead Discovers the Meaning of Existence in a Dream

Revelations from the laboratory of the unconscious.

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Alone in the Forest: Exploring Fear & Courage in Stunning Illustrations Based on Indian Folk Art
Alone in the Forest: Exploring Fear & Courage in Stunning Illustrations Based on Indian Folk Art

Exquisite visual storytelling that speaks both to our crippling fear of the unfamiliar and our ability to transcend it, emerging enriched by the experience.

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Friedrich Nietzsche on Why a Fulfilling Life Requires Embracing Rather than Running from Difficulty
Friedrich Nietzsche on Why a Fulfilling Life Requires Embracing Rather than Running from Difficulty

A century and a half before our modern fetishism of failure, a seminal philosophical case for its value.

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The Measure of a Life Well Lived: Henry Miller on Growing Old, the Perils of Success, and the Secret of Remaining Young at Heart
The Measure of a Life Well Lived: Henry Miller on Growing Old, the Perils of Success, and the Secret of Remaining Young at Heart

“If you can fall in love again and again… if you can forgive as well as forget, if you can keep from growing sour, surly, bitter and cynical… you’ve got it half licked.”

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George Lucas on the Meaning of Life
George Lucas on the Meaning of Life

“There is no why. We are. Life is beyond reason.”

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20-Year-Old Hunter S. Thompson’s Surprisingly Sage Advice on How to Find Your Purpose and Live a Meaningful Life
20-Year-Old Hunter S. Thompson’s Surprisingly Sage Advice on How to Find Your Purpose and Live a Meaningful Life

“It is not necessary to accept the choices handed down to you by life as you know it.”

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The Beautiful and Frightening Experience of How Science Is Done: Richard Feynman’s Letter to James Watson about <em>The Double Helix</em>
The Beautiful and Frightening Experience of How Science Is Done: Richard Feynman’s Letter to James Watson about The Double Helix

A manifesto for messiness and the value of the subjective in the advancement of knowledge.

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