The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “books”

Marcus Aurelius on How to Live Through Difficult Times
Marcus Aurelius on How to Live Through Difficult Times

“Accept everything which happens, even if it seem disagreeable, because it leads to this, the health of the universe.”

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200 Years of Frankenstein: Mary Shelley’s Masterpiece as a Lens on Today’s Most Pressing Questions of Science, Ethics, and Human Creativity
200 Years of Frankenstein: Mary Shelley’s Masterpiece as a Lens on Today’s Most Pressing Questions of Science, Ethics, and Human Creativity

“The labours of men of genius, however erroneously directed, scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to the solid advantage of mankind.”

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Theodore Roosevelt on the Two Pillars of Good Citizenship and the Most Dangerous Enemy of Democracy
Theodore Roosevelt on the Two Pillars of Good Citizenship and the Most Dangerous Enemy of Democracy

“In a republic, to be successful we must learn to combine intensity of conviction with a broad tolerance of difference of conviction.”

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Julián Is a Mermaid: A Tenderhearted Story of Identity, Belonging, and the Courage to Be Yourself
Julián Is a Mermaid: A Tenderhearted Story of Identity, Belonging, and the Courage to Be Yourself

A watercolor serenade to the transformative power of unconditional love.

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How to Exercise Like a Poet: The Walt Whitman Workout
How to Exercise Like a Poet: The Walt Whitman Workout

Tree-wrestling for resistance training, vigorous recitation for cardio.

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The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics Pioneer Norbert Wiener on Communication, Control, and the Morality of Our Machines
The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics Pioneer Norbert Wiener on Communication, Control, and the Morality of Our Machines

“We are not stuff that abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves. A pattern is a message.”

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Walking the City with Jane: An Illustrated Celebration of Jane Jacobs and Her Legacy of Livable Cities
Walking the City with Jane: An Illustrated Celebration of Jane Jacobs and Her Legacy of Livable Cities

How a woman of great courage and great humanity changed the way we build cities, taught communities to stand up for themselves, and inspired generations to look up.

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Nature and the Serious Work of Joy
Nature and the Serious Work of Joy

“There can be occasions when we suddenly and involuntarily find ourselves loving the natural world with a startling intensity, in a burst of emotion which we may not fully understand…”

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How to Eat an Apricot: Diane Ackerman on Art, Science, and Wonder
How to Eat an Apricot: Diane Ackerman on Art, Science, and Wonder

“First warm its continuous curve in cupped hands, holding it as you might a brandy snifter, then caress the velvety sheen with one thumb, and run your fingertips over its nap…”

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William James on Consciousness and the Four Features of Transcendent Experiences
William James on Consciousness and the Four Features of Transcendent Experiences

“Our normal waking consciousness… is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different… No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded.”

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