The Marginalian
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A Short Guide to a Happy Life: Anna Quindlen on Work, Joy, and How to Live Rather Than Exist
A Short Guide to a Happy Life: Anna Quindlen on Work, Joy, and How to Live Rather Than Exist

“You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are.”

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Anne Lamott on Writing and Why Perfectionism Kills Creativity
Anne Lamott on Writing and Why Perfectionism Kills Creativity

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.”

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Philosopher Judith Butler on the Value of the Humanities and Why We Read
Philosopher Judith Butler on the Value of the Humanities and Why We Read

“We lose ourselves in what we read, only to return to ourselves, transformed and part of a more expansive world.”

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May 20, 1990: Advice on Life and Creative Integrity from <em>Calvin and Hobbes</em> Creator Bill Watterson
May 20, 1990: Advice on Life and Creative Integrity from Calvin and Hobbes Creator Bill Watterson

“The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive.”

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Who Invented Writing? An Animated Historical Detective Story
Who Invented Writing? An Animated Historical Detective Story

From Sumerian cuneiform to hieroglyphics to Chinese script, a tale of simultaneous invention.

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Kurt Vonnegut on the Secret of Happiness: An Homage to Joseph Heller’s Wisdom
Kurt Vonnegut on the Secret of Happiness: An Homage to Joseph Heller’s Wisdom

The meaning of life, in a short verse.

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Janis Joplin on Creativity and Rejection: Her Lost Final Interview, Rediscovered and Animated
Janis Joplin on Creativity and Rejection: Her Lost Final Interview, Rediscovered and Animated

“You are what you settle for.”

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Be All Your Selves: Joss Whedon’s 2013 Wesleyan Commencement Address on Embracing Our Inner Contradictions
Be All Your Selves: Joss Whedon’s 2013 Wesleyan Commencement Address on Embracing Our Inner Contradictions

“Identity is something that you are constantly earning. It is a process that you must be active in.”

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Raymond Chandler on Writing: A Lifetime of Wisdom on the Craft from His Private Letters
Raymond Chandler on Writing: A Lifetime of Wisdom on the Craft from His Private Letters

“Writers … have to fight the impulse to live up to someone else’s idea of what they are.”

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Henry Miller on Creative Death
Henry Miller on Creative Death

“One aspect of our nature cannot be exalted above another, except and the expense of one or the other.”

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