The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “books”

The Mirror of Enigmas: Chance, the Universe, and the Fragile Loveliness of Knowing Who We Are
The Mirror of Enigmas: Chance, the Universe, and the Fragile Loveliness of Knowing Who We Are

“There is no human being on earth capable of declaring with certitude who he is.”

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James Baldwin on Love, the Illusion of Choice, and the Paradox of Freedom
James Baldwin on Love, the Illusion of Choice, and the Paradox of Freedom

“Nothing is more unbearable, once one has it, than freedom.”

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Alain de Botton on How to Get Over Rejection and Heartbreak
Alain de Botton on How to Get Over Rejection and Heartbreak

A resaning antidote to one of the most dangerous and damaging romantic myths in our culture.

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Thoreau on Nature and Human Nature, the Tonic of Wildness, and the Value of the Unexplored
Thoreau on Nature and Human Nature, the Tonic of Wildness, and the Value of the Unexplored

“At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable.”

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The Vast Wonder of the World: Ernest Everett Just’s Trailblazing Life and Life-Illuminating Science, Illustrated
The Vast Wonder of the World: Ernest Everett Just’s Trailblazing Life and Life-Illuminating Science, Illustrated

How a visionary turned the art of noticing into a leap of science.

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The Ocean and the Meaning of Life
The Ocean and the Meaning of Life

“Contemplating the teeming life of the shore, we have an uneasy sense of the communication of some universal truth that lies just beyond our grasp… the ultimate mystery of Life itself.”

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The Conscience of Color, from Chemistry to Culture
The Conscience of Color, from Chemistry to Culture

“Colors are not possessions; they are the intimate revelations of an energy field… light waves with mathematically precise lengths… deep, resonant mysteries with boundless subjectivity… Our lives, when we pay attention to light, compel us to empathy with color.”

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Matter, Music, and the Mind
Matter, Music, and the Mind

“Sound is sea: pattern lapping pattern… Matter delights in music, and became Bach.”

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The Secret of Happiness: Bronson Alcott on Gardening and Genius
The Secret of Happiness: Bronson Alcott on Gardening and Genius

“Every plant one tends he falls in love with… Only persons of perennial genius attract or recreate as the plants, and of books we may say the same, as of the magic of solitude.”

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Sylvia Plath on Living with the Darkness and Making Art from the Barely Bearable Lightness of Being
Sylvia Plath on Living with the Darkness and Making Art from the Barely Bearable Lightness of Being

“One has to shut off that nagging part of the mind and go on without it with bravo and philosophy.”

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