The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Search results for “Letter to Van Gogh”

Artist Anne Truitt on the Transcendent Sense of “Enough” and the Epiphany That Revealed to Her the Purpose of Art
Artist Anne Truitt on the Transcendent Sense of “Enough” and the Epiphany That Revealed to Her the Purpose of Art

“I saw myself stretched like brown earth in furrows, open to the sky, well planted, my life as a human being complete.”

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On Nonconformity: Artist Ben Shahn’s Spirited Defense of Nonconformists as Society’s Engine of Growth and Greatness
On Nonconformity: Artist Ben Shahn’s Spirited Defense of Nonconformists as Society’s Engine of Growth and Greatness

“Without the nonconformist, any society of whatever degree of perfection must fall into decay.”

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Walk Through Walls: Marina Abramović on Art, Fear, Taking Risks, and Pain as a Focal Lens for Presence
Walk Through Walls: Marina Abramović on Art, Fear, Taking Risks, and Pain as a Focal Lens for Presence

“Art must be life — it must belong to everybody.”

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Why Do We Love? An Animated Inquiry Into Romance by Philosopher Skye Cleary
Why Do We Love? An Animated Inquiry Into Romance by Philosopher Skye Cleary

“Love is a passion to be chosen and mastered, not sacrificed to.”

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How Leo Tolstoy Found His Purpose: The Beloved Author on Personal Growth and the Meaning of Human Existence
How Leo Tolstoy Found His Purpose: The Beloved Author on Personal Growth and the Meaning of Human Existence

“That which one has set oneself to do, one should not relinquish on the grounds of absence of mind or distraction.”

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16 Overall Favorite Books of 2016
16 Overall Favorite Books of 2016

From loneliness to love to black holes, by way of Neil Gaiman, Annie Dillard, and Mary Oliver.

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35 Odd Jobs Celebrated Painter Agnes Martin Held Before She Became an Artist
35 Odd Jobs Celebrated Painter Agnes Martin Held Before She Became an Artist

From butcher to ice cream scooper to elevator operator, “also raised rabbits and ducks.”

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The Third Self: Mary Oliver on Time, Concentration, the Artist’s Task, and the Central Commitment of the Creative Life
The Third Self: Mary Oliver on Time, Concentration, the Artist’s Task, and the Central Commitment of the Creative Life

“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”

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Alain de Botton on Love, Vulnerability, and the Psychological Paradox of the Sulk
Alain de Botton on Love, Vulnerability, and the Psychological Paradox of the Sulk

“If we are not regularly deeply embarrassed by who we are, the journey to self-knowledge hasn’t begun.”

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What Depression Is Really Like
What Depression Is Really Like

“The gray drizzle of horror induced by depression takes on the quality of physical pain.”

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